Secret Agent Nanny
by Cara245
Summary: AU: Raising an eight year old isn't for the faint of heart, and Ranger Manoso enlists the aid of a most unlikely nanny - Stephanie Plum. Babe HEA. Ranger is raising Julie after Rachel's death, but his and the Merry Men's back story are the same. The rating is for language. Note: 9/15/14: I added the outtakes back in, but they are clearly labelled as separate from the main story.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: This is an Alternate Universe story, though there may be spoilers for the first few books in the series. Ranger is raising Julie, and one Stephanie Plum answers an ad in the paper for a job at Trenton's newest security firm, RangeMan.**

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Chapter 1: You want me to do what?

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I felt a little like Alice in Wonderland as I followed a silent hulk of a man into the elevator of a seven story building off of Haywood. I'm a Jersey girl, born and bred, so I'm used to people being armed. Even my grandma carries a .45 in her purse, but the firepower on this guy made me kind of nervous.

Why was I following a heavily armed stranger into a half-empty building in Trenton, New Jersey? It was pretty simple; I was down to my last three bucks and rent was due last week.

Six months ago I had a steady job as a lingerie buyer for E.E. Martin. Trying to find the best price for granny panties wasn't my idea of a dream career, but it kept me in FMPs and I had a pretty cool car. Unfortunately, E.E. Martin was shut down by the Feds and my Miata had been repossessed. I'd already pawned my TV and DVD player, and I'd just cleaned out my bank account to purchase a Chevy Nova that was more rust than sheet metal. Worst 500 bucks I'd ever spent.

Truth was, whoever I was on my way to see was hiring and I really needed a job. If this didn't pan out, I'd have to go beg my cousin for a file clerk position at his bail bonds office. Vinnie is a boil on the backside of my family tree, and a pervert, if the story about the duck is true. He'd also sell out his own grandmother for twenty bucks, so I'd decided applying for a job at a completely unknown company couldn't be any more dangerous to my health and well-being. The placard next to the lobby door said 'RangeMan', but the job advertisement in the paper had been decidedly vague.

The elevator opened up onto a vast, echoing space on the fifth floor. The walls and carpet were contractor beige and the few cubicles that were set up along the perimeter were occupied by men who were just as intimidating as my escort, who'd left me alone at the elevator. Smiling weakly, I sketched a finger wave at the man nearest me, an enormous guy with a flaming skull tattooed onto his forehead. I was starting to realize that this wasn't your average office and these were no run of the mill cubicle dwellers.

This impression was only strengthened by the small figure that came barreling around the corner on a skateboard. I jumped out of the way, but since this is me we're talking about, we still ended up in a heap on the floor. _Yep, _I thought as I picked myself and the kid up off the floor, _definitely the strangest job interview I'd ever been on_, and I'm counting the time I interviewed for a job managing midget mud wrestlers.

The men were on their feet, surrounding us by then, but no one had uttered a word, even the girl. She was a cute kid, with warm brown skin and the most glorious head of hair I'd ever seen. It was so dark it was almost black and hung halfway down her back in smooth, silky waves. Mine is light brown and so curly that poodles have been known to make fun of it, so I was a little envious.

Judging by the glares the guys were giving her, the fifth floor was supposed to be a skateboard free zone. I don't know if it was her quivering lower lip, or what, but she brought out protective instincts in me I hadn't even known existed.

"Hey, no harm done, kid," I said as I flipped the board upright and caught it in my right hand. I edged us both away from the incredible hulks and held the skateboard out to her. "Think about zigging instead of zagging next time, OK?" I said with a wink.

I probably imagined it, but she almost smiled as she rode away, leaving me alone with half a dozen men dressed in what looked like black SWAT gear. I blew out a breath. "So what's the dental plan like here?"

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

A few minutes later, I was looking across a wide ultra-modern desk at the kid's dad. My first thought was 'hot, hot, hot!' My second thought was that this was one seriously scary man. His skin was the same smooth mocha latte color as his daughter's, his hair was long and caught back in a ponytail, and his face belonged on the cover of a steamy romance novel. On the other hand, he was dressed like his men, built like a Mack truck, and he was staring at me like I was a particularly interesting bug. It was like being under a microscope.

After several minutes, he finally spoke. "Ms. Plum, I would like to offer you the position on a trial basis."

I struggled to hide my excitement. Interviewers usually asked at least a couple of questions, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"You'll live in since you'll be on call seven days a week, but you will have free time during school hours."

"Excuse me?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion. "What does the school schedule have to do with the job?"

"My daughter is eight, Ms. Plum," he explained patiently. At my blank look he tried again. "You are here for the nanny position?"

"But, I thought I was interviewing for the office manager job," I sputtered. I could handle spreadsheets and schedules, but I didn't know a damn thing about kids, except they were small, loud and tended to spit up a lot. At least my cousin's kids did, but that may have been all the hotdogs I fed them last time I babysat.

"Fucking Santos," he muttered under his breath. He double checked the label on a folder, flipped it open and scanned the contents briefly. Finally, he met my eyes. I could almost feel him staring straight through me, as if he could read every thought I'd ever had. "The office manager position has been filled already, but my other offer is still open."

The man was certifiable. "I have never worked as a nanny," I protested.

His lips twitched. "But you've somehow made it farther in the interview process than any other applicant."

"But you haven't even asked one question, yet."

He leaned back in his chair and I had to work to keep my eyes on his face. Pecs like that should be illegal. "Your background check was clean, and you didn't suddenly remember another appointment down in the lobby."

I smirked. "I thought all well-dressed receptionists carried assault rifles." As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. Hello, my name is Stephanie Plum. I am about 5'7" tall, 125 pounds, and 50 of those pounds are in my big, fat, mouth.

An almost smile tipped up the corners of his lips as he scribbled down a figure on a slip of paper. "I can offer this the first month, with a twenty percent raise after the trial period."

I gasped at the amount. It was easily double what I'd made at my last job. "I'm not sure I'm qualified to care for small children," I said weakly. This was almost an offer I couldn't refuse.

He made an impatient sound in the back of his throat. "My daughter is not an infant, Ms. Plum."

_Good, because I sucked at changing diapers_, I thought. Judging by the way that his lips twitched, I'd said that last part out loud.

"Ms. Plum, you are a single, unencumbered adult with no criminal record."

"So is Joyce Barnhardt, but I wouldn't want her to watch my kid," I shot back. I cringed. God, what was it about this guy that turned me stupid? The only favor Joyce had ever done me was sleep with my husband, so why was I even remotely comparing myself to her? During a job interview, no less?

He sighed. "Let's cut to the chase. Do you hate kids, Ms. Plum?"

"No!" I exclaimed. I wasn't comfortable around them, but hate them? I had nieces for Christ's sake.

"Good. Are you an agent for an enemy government, recruiting for a cult, or only interested in finding your next husband?" he continued, one eyebrow raised sardonically.

"God no!" I exclaimed. "Where are you recruiting your nannies from? Hell?" I was starting to feel a little sorry for the kid if these were standard interview questions.

He looked me straight in the eye and went in for the kill. "The rent on your apartment will be covered during the trial period." He glanced down at the last page on what was most likely an extremely thorough background check on me. "Late fees, too."

I huffed out a breath. Who was I fooling? We both knew that I needed this job. "It's Stephanie."

"Stephanie," he repeated slowly, his slight accent transforming my name into something rare and exotic sounding.

"Ms. Plum is my mother." I held out my hand to him. "I guess you have yourself a nanny, Mr. Mañoso." I had to suppress a gasp as our palms met and little tendrils of fire traveled down my arm. I wondered briefly if it was too late to take back my decision.

The corners of his eyes crinkled, and his lips lifted into a grin that was as brief as it was beautiful. "My employees call me Ranger."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: SOP – Standard operating procedure. XO – Military speak: Executive officer, second in command. In other words, Tank :)**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Your response is overwhelming, and very much appreciated.**

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Chapter 2: Dropping the kid off at school doesn't require a bazooka and armored vehicles

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I followed the same guy as before into the elevator. Now that I was hired, Hal was slightly more talkative, meaning that he answered my questions with one and two word sentences. He showed me how to point and click a slim black key fob at the control panel, and we began to rise to the top floor. The elevator opened out onto a small lobby and Hal steered me toward the door on the right. The same fob opened the door, and I found myself inside a small, neatly furnished apartment.

_It was nicer than my place_, I thought as I looked around the main living area. The couch was a rich dark leather, the walls and carpets were done in tasteful neutrals, and the kitchen was all granite and stainless steel. My couch was a hand-me-down from my great-grandmother and my building off of St. James Street had been built long before central air or shiny, modern appliances. I followed Hal through to the bedroom.

"Connecting door to Julie's room," he said, pointing to a reinforced steel fire door in the corner of the room. "Your fob will work, but we'll set up the biometrics, too."

I could only stare open-mouthed at the complicated looking thumbprint scanner on the door. It was like something out of James Bond. I'd wanted to be a super hero or a spy when I was a kid, but this was ridiculous. I snorted to myself. _Secret Agent Nanny, that's me._ "Isn't this a little overkill?"

My escort shot me a quelling look. "This is a security company, Ma'am."

"Call me Steph or Stephanie," I said absently as I made a mental note to google RangeMan, LLC. Julie's daddy was a security expert. That at least explained the fancy door locks and security cameras everywhere. I quickly scanned the room and breathed out a sigh of relief. It looked like the bedroom wasn't monitored.

I peeked into the adjoining room. The walls and bedspread were pink and I could see a laptop and game system on the corner desk. At least her father didn't expect the kid's room to match the rest of his building's décor.

Hal explained the phone system to me and left me alone. I knew I'd have to go find the kid soon, but I still wanted to check out the rest of the apartment.

_Her name was Julie_, I corrected myself, as I checked out the bathroom and closet space. I'd been given a short file to read and her schedule, so I knew that her middle name was Ann, her birthday was in August, and she had no known allergies. She was also more tightly scheduled than most CEOs I'd met, with one, sometimes two activities after every school day and three on weekends. Seriously, violin, piano and kickboxing? And what eight year old had tutors for Chinese, Arabic and math? Well, not every eight year old had a dossier, either, I thought sardonically as I thumbed through the slim notebook I'd been given. I shook my head in disbelief; was this the Army or something? Someone had written a SOP manual for the nanny. I was about to toss the notebook aside when I suddenly realized I wasn't alone.

"I don't need a nanny, you know," Julie said. She crossed her arms and glared at me from our connecting doorway.

I had to hide a smile. I knew that lip, that defiant chin. It was like looking in the mirror, twenty years ago. "Good, because I'm not a nanny."

Her eyes widened in surprise and her chin dipped, slightly. "Then what are you?" She demanded.

"An out of work lingerie buyer." At her confused look, I smiled and held out my hand to her. "Don't worry about it. I'm Stephanie, but you can call me Steph, if you prefer."

After we shook, I stared at her left pocket, which was bulging suspiciously. "OK, let me have it." I raised my eyebrows when she handed me a small plastic jar. "Itching powder, always a classic." I tilted my head sideways at her shocked look. "Run off many nannies?"

She shrugged. "Maybe a couple."

I smiled to myself as I led her into the living room. "Well, we'll have to compare notes, sometime." I'd never had a nanny, but a few camp counselors had cursed my name back in the day.

She smiled slightly as we both plopped down on the sofa. It was pretty comfy. "Were you a problem child, too?" She asked, enunciating the words carefully as if she was repeating an overheard conversation.

My heart melted a little. I knew this kid, almost as well as I knew myself. "I prefer high spirited. It sounds better." I blew out a breath. "I get that you don't need a Mary Poppins, so let's make a deal, OK?" When she didn't say no, I continued. "We hang out for the foreseeable future, I make sure that you make it to all of your twenty million activities, and you don't try to run me out of Dodge." I grinned at her cautious nod. "Trust me kid, I can fight back and you won't like it."

We spent the next few minutes getting acquainted. The kid was prickly, but funny as Hell. After I'd found out that she preferred hip hop because 'Justin Bieber is a total dweeb', I glanced down at my watch. It was after five.

"If I'm starting tomorrow, I really need to go pack up a few things." Like my hamster, and enough clothes to last through my month-long trial period. I glanced at her schedule before tossing the notebook to the side. "Since it looks like you're already missing drawing class, do you want to go with?" I paused as I thought better of my offer. "Unless that cuts into your and your Dad's dinner time?"

She shook her head at me, pityingly. "I just call Ella for something if I'm hungry." She headed toward the door. "Ranger is only taking care of me because my Mom died and my Dad didn't want me anymore."

It was my turn to stare after her, opened-mouthed. Julie looked too much like Ranger to not be his daughter, so her words didn't make any sense to me. I think it was in that moment that I actually committed to the job I'd just been offered. I was probably the most under-qualified nanny in history, but this kid needed a friend. I could do that.

I grabbed my purse and hi-tech keys and joined her at the door. "In that case, I'm going to introduce you to the best pizza in Trenton."

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

By 8:45 AM the next morning, I was beginning to wonder what had ever possessed me to take this job. Julie was fine – maybe a little whiny first thing in the morning, but who wasn't? Luckily, an absolutely angelic woman named Ella packed Julie's lunch and took care of breakfast. I just had to roust her grumpy little butt out of bed and get her to school at Our Lady of Sorrows by 8:30.

My problem was school drop off procedures. You heard me, the SOP manual had five whole pages, front and back, devoted to getting Julie to and from school. Apparently, Ranger Mañoso didn't do carpools or the bus. Nope, Julie required an armed escort.

I made a sound of disgust as I closed the notebook. We were stopped at a light, so my driver, Zip, turned his head toward me. "Problem, Ma'am?"

"Yeah. First, it's Stephanie, and secondly, I have a real problem with these procedures." I huffed out a breath. "Do we really need two Hummers and three armed guards to get an eight year-old to school?" I asked as I jerked my head toward the vehicle behind us.

Zip's face settled into a blank stare as he faced forward and started through the intersection. "Procedures clearly state…."

"I know, you have a job to do, but my job is to get Julie out of third grade without her being beat up or teased to death." It was April, so we only had a couple more months of school, but judging by the tittering mob of girls that had followed Julie into the building, her odds weren't looking great.

I thumbed through the manual again. "Maybe you could dress down or wear a jacket or something to cover up your holster?" I looked thoughtfully over at Zip. I'd prefer to just drop her off myself, but after less than 24 hours of employment, I knew that was a no-go. It was a good thing no one had written procedures for taking the nanny to Pino's or Tasty Pastry, or I would be going nuts right about now.

"And maybe just one SUV – like one of those Explorers I saw?" I mused out loud.

We'd just pulled in to the garage, so Zip turned back toward me. "All changes in SOPs must be approved by the XO, Ma'am. Stephanie," he amended when I glared at him. When I glared some more, he sighed and slumped back into his seat. "Go see Tank and try not to get me in too much trouble, OK?"

I grinned. "At ease, soldier."

Tank was built like, well, a tank. He was about six feet, six inches of bulging muscles and I bet on the street, they called him Sir, or Scary-ass Mo' fo'. But he was no match for me. We went back and forth for about thirty minutes, but he finally agreed to my suggestions.

"One car and the driver wears regular clothes," I said as I glared at him from across his desk.

"One Explorer, but two escorts, plain clothes" he countered. At my nod, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "You're going to be a pain in my ass, aren't you, Little Girl?"

I opened my mouth to object, but thought better of it. Everyone was little, compared to him. I stuck my hand out. "I sincerely hope so, Big Guy."

His hand was the size of a dinner plate, but gentle as he took my hand in his and shook. He sighed again and reached into his top desk drawer for a small black device. "OK, you can have the changes you asked for, but it would make my life easier if you carried this." He turned it over and showed me how it worked. "Panic button's on this side."

Huh, more spy stuff. It was weird, but kind of cool. "Aye, Aye, sir!" I said with a jaunty salute. It wasn't perfect, but I felt like I'd won a small victory for me and Julie.

Tanks wide face split into a blinding grin. "Now get your ass out of my office."

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AN: Our Lady of Sorrows is a real Catholic school in Hamilton Township, near Trenton. I liked the name, so I used it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**A shout out to Margaret (aka whymelucylu): Thanks for the idea of seeing Ranger's thoughts on hiring Stephanie. I tried it and liked it.**

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Chapter 3: From the other side

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Ranger's POV

For maybe the tenth time in the last four days, I wondered if I'd been crazy to hire Stephanie Plum. My men and I had compiled a roster of highly qualified candidates, including several people with degrees in early childhood development and one woman who had helped raise a cabinet member's children to adulthood. But, the Secretary of State's former nanny had fainted at the sight of Cal and Tank, and a couple of the kindergarten teachers had been more interested in my development than Julie's.

Stephanie had made it onto the list by mistake. I still didn't know whether I should thank my cousin or take him to the mats.

I exited the stairs onto Seven and opened the apartment door. As I followed the sounds of laughter, I remembered why I'd chosen Stephanie. She'd made my daughter smile. I'd watched their first meeting from the shadows, and instead of yelling or screaming, Stephanie had dusted herself off and made a joke. I hadn't missed how she'd put herself between Julie and six of the baddest, meanest SOB's I'd ever served with, either. Stephanie Plum had guts and style and my hiring her had nothing to do with the fact that she had the biggest, bluest eyes I'd ever seen, or the way her ass had looked in that ridiculously prim business suit.

I hung back at Julie's door and watched them, again. They had music on and Julie was attempting to teach Steph a couple of dance moves. I say attempt because while the woman was a babe, she was reinforcing racial stereotypes right and left – no rhythm at all. As I watched them, I wondered when I'd last heard Julie laugh. Before Rachel died, maybe?

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. Stephanie had managed to turn my life and my building upside down in a matter of days, but she'd have a job as long as she made my daughter happy.

I cleared my throat and cringed a little inside when Julie's laughter died and her face went blank. _Dios,_ I had an overflowing bank account and a trunk full of medals I never looked at, but I couldn't relate to my own kid.

"Can I have a word, Stephanie?"

To her credit, her smile never slipped. "Sure." She turned toward Julie. "Finish your spelling homework and I'll show you a couple of _my _moves." She jumped around a little and flailed her arms. "Rock and roll, baby!"

Julie's giggle followed us as we moved into my home office. I closed the door behind us and carefully schooled my expression. She was good with Julie, but her behavior today had been unacceptable. "Julie's not at violin. Explain."'

One thing I could say about Steph, she was no coward. She gestured toward the guest chair and sat when I nodded. "Julie hates violin," she said, as if that was the most reasonable explanation in the world.

"Julie's my child, and her schedule was carefully planned with the advice of several experts." I explained, equally patiently.

She snorted. "With all due respect, I think you're missing the operative word. Julie's a _child._"

"My child," I repeated.

"I should have cleared it with you first." She looked away briefly as her cheeks reddened. "I'm sorry, but I did leave a message this morning asking to talk to you."

True, and I'd decided to put her off until after Julie's bedtime, but the violin teacher had called. "I'm here, so talk." She rolled her eyes and it was so cute I had to cough to hide my grin.

"Did you realize Julie has fourteen separate lessons and activities planned in a given week? And that's in addition to a full day of school and an hour or more homework each night." She stood and began to pace. "She's so tired in the evening that it's all I can do to get some dinner in her and get her into bed." She stopped and marched over to me. "When does she have time to be a kid?"

She had a point, but I had a plan. The first couple of months after Rachel's death had been a nightmare. Julie had drifted around the Miami house like a ghost, hardly speaking. Someone had suggested that I send her back to piano, and she'd come back to life, a little, so I'd just kept adding stuff to fill her time. When we'd moved to Trenton a few months ago, I'd met with her teachers and taken their advice, too. "She has opportunities most people could only dream of."

Stephanie thrust a crumpled sheet of paper under my nose. "And when she needs therapy later, she can have it in four different languages." She whirled away and began pacing again. "For Chrissake, I feel like I should drag on some lederhosen and start quoting the 'Sound of Music.' The child needs to play, Captain Von Trapp!"

It took all my training to not lose my shit, right then and there. The woman had no idea how funny she was, or that she'd just demoted me a rank. I figured she wouldn't appreciate my laughing just then, so I read through Julie's schedule, instead. She was right; it was a bit much.

"Fine," I muttered. "What are your expert recommendations?" I snarled.

I immediately wanted to kick myself, but Stephanie wasn't put off by my rudeness.

"I talked to Julie and I think four, or maybe five, extracurricular activities a week would be good."

I had to suppress a groan when she bit her lip as she pondered her next words. _Dios, _what a woman, I thought as I struggled to tamp down the surge of desire that shot straight through me. I wanted to be the one biting and sucking on that lower lip so bad I could taste it.

She was the nanny, and off limits, but why did she have to be so hot? Stephanie was looking at me expectantly, so I shook my head dumbly, like an idiot. "Come again?"

"I said that you and Julie needed to talk it over, but I found some summer programs she might like." She pursed her lips. "She seemed pretty excited about the science day camp, but there are also some language immersions ones and an art camp."

I forced myself to focus. "Send me the links. She keeps the Spanish and self-defense lessons, those are non-negotiable." I hadn't pushed it with Rachel and Ron, but I liked the idea of Julie being more in touch with my family's culture. And with the number of enemies I had, I felt better knowing Julie could defend herself if absolutely necessary.

"Is there any way the kickboxing could count toward self-defense? She enjoys those lessons." Again, I was impressed with Stephanie Plum. Every other nanny I'd employed over the last year and a half had tried to argue that no eight year old needed to learn to shoot and take down grown men, but Steph didn't even bat an eye at my demands. I liked a woman that knew when to pick her battles.

"We could work something out." My cousin Lester taught her both of those on premises, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Stephanie bit her lip again and I had to shift in my seat to hide a certain growing problem of mine. I wondered if I could ask someone to break her of that nervous habit, hopefully before I went insane.

"Was there anything else?" _Dios, _I sounded like such a prick, but I knew I had to get away from her before I did something stupid. Like kiss her.

"Well…" she paused. "We're having dinner at 6:30, and you're welcome to join us so we can work out which activities Julie's going to keep."

OK. That took care of any desire I might have felt. I took a deep breath and stamped down on the helpless feeling that swept through me. I didn't think I could make it through another silent meal with Julie staring sullenly at me. I knew I wasn't really at fault, but I hated being the bastard that had uprooted her from everything she'd ever known. "I have a client meeting." It wasn't really a lie, because Ram was new and still needed supervision. It just didn't have to be me.

I stood and pushed open the door, letting her know that the interview was at an end. "If you can get me the revised schedule by 0800 tomorrow, I'll look it over." She didn't look at me as she left the office, and for once I was glad I didn't have to look into those clear blue eyes.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

Stephanie's POV

After Julie was in bed, I wandered into the kitchen of my new nanny digs for a glass of wine. After my confrontation with Ranger earlier, I deserved it. As I plopped down on the couch again, I thought back to everything that had happened over the last few days. On Monday, I was jobless and soon to be homeless. Tonight, I had maybe the most challenging job of my whole life and my living room belonged in a design magazine.

One of the unexpected perks of the job came in the form of Ella Guzman. She and her husband, Luis, managed the building for Ranger, and apparently one of her duties was keeping me and Julie fed. I silently raised my glass to Ella, who had proven that she was both good and wise when she'd stocked my kitchen with a bottle of red, ice cream, and the good chocolate.

A knock on the door interrupted my internal debate over which carton of Ben &amp; Jerry's I should dig into first. I hid my shock when I opened my door to Ranger; I hadn't expected to see him again for a good long while.

"Hey, I can get that schedule for you," I babbled as I let him in. He was dressed in a fine, black wool business suit, with the top button on the collar of his black dress shirt undone to reveal a couple of inches of smooth, mocha colored skin. If I'd thought he was good looking in tight T-shirts and cargo pants, Armani Ranger was downright devastating.

_Bad, Stephanie, bad!_ I muttered to myself as I grabbed my laptop out of the bedroom. When I returned, he was standing at the breakfast bar, a look of pure exhaustion clouding his features.

"You know you have a rat in your kitchen?" He asked, gesturing toward the aquarium sitting on the counter.

"Shhh…. He's a hamster and he's very sensitive," I said, pretending to be offended. I'd bought Rex sometime after my divorce and he'd been the best roommate ever. He never drank my beer and he was a good listener.

I held up my wine glass. "Want some?" When he nodded, I fetched the bottle and another glass from the kitchen and we settled on opposite ends of the couch.

"Here's the schedule that Julie and I came up with," I said as I pulled it up on the screen. "But first, I would like to propose a toast to Saint Ella, who seems to know exactly what we need after a long, long day."

His lips twitched in what I was starting to realize was his version of a full on belly laugh. "To Ella," he echoed as we clinked glasses. He took a long, grateful swallow. "I'll give her a raise tomorrow."

"Damn straight." I said, before I could think better of it. "I'm watching my language around Julie, honest."

He chuckled and took the laptop from me. "She's probably heard worse from me and the men." After several moments, Ranger handed the computer back. "Julie's happy with this?"

"Yeah." I nodded as I put the laptop away. "We kept self-defense on Sundays, and Spanish on Tuesdays, like you asked. She likes piano and swim club the best, so that's Wednesday and Saturday." We'd kept four activities and not one more.

"And the rest of the week?" He asked, curiously.

"She works at being a kid, I guess." I shrugged. "If you're worried about her being at loose ends I could probably find a sweat shop that's hiring," I joked.

He mock-scowled at me and took another sip of wine. "You know you're required to take self-defense, too?"

"Yep, that's page two of the manual." I made a face. "Who the hell thought it was a good idea to write SOPs for a nanny and a little girl?" I've never been one for rules, but the kid was cute and I had a whole lot of bills to pay, so I guessed I'd have to just suck it up. Mostly.

He raised one eyebrow. "We're military men," he said, as if that explained everything.

"Yeah, yeah," I said, dismissing his logic with a wave of my hand. "Anyway, I spoke to Lester today, and he's going to teach us both some basic defense moves after Julie's kickboxing lesson." I looked longingly toward the kitchen and wondered if I had to share the chocolate if I broke it out in front of the boss. "Julie's looking forward to kicking my butt." We both grinned, because we knew that she probably could. Julie was just that badass.

We sat for several more minutes in companionable silence before I worked up the nerve to ask him something that had been bothering me all week. "Look, I'm probably prying, but can I ask you about something Julie said?" I finished off my wine, for courage. "She mentioned that her mom died and you were looking after her because her dad didn't want her?" The words came out in a rush, and in that moment I knew that Ranger Mañoso wasn't the cold bastard he wanted me to think he was. You couldn't fake the kind of pain that I saw in his expression.

He scrubbed his hand tiredly over his face, and then reached over to refill first my glass, and then his. "Rachel and I divorced before Julie was six months old," he began, his words soft and clipped. "When she met and married Ron a year later, I agreed that it was a good idea to let him adopt her. I was pulling back-to-back tours overseas, with more to come," he said baldly, in explanation.

My heart broke for him and Julie. Maybe he had thought it was for the best, but I could tell it cost him. "You don't have to finish," I told him, wishing I could take back my question. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear any more.

He shook his head. "Not much more to tell. Rachel died almost two years ago, complications from child-birth." He shrugged. "Ron shut down when he lost his wife and son, so here we are. Julie's Daddy is still licking his wounds in Florida, and I'm..." It was like he couldn't stand to finish his sentence.

"God, that sucks," I murmured. I pushed his glass toward him and took a healthy swallow from my own. I hated what I was going to say to him, but really, he'd made it my job when he'd put me in charge of Julie's well being. I could tell Ranger didn't really want my sympathy, but he needed a little kick in the ass.

"It's a shame and a real tragedy what happened. It must've been harder to take because there's no one to blame," I said, emphasizing the last few words. I wasn't a parent, but thanks to mine, I knew a thing or two about guilt.

"But you're forgetting that Julie has another father, right here, and she really, really needs him." When he started to shake his head, I stopped him. "I do know," I said, answering his unasked question. "You made me the resident child-care expert, so yeah, I'm telling you she needs you in her life." _And not to feel like she was a burden. _

Judging by the stricken look on his face, I might have said that last part out loud. The mood needed some seriously lightening, so I changed the subject quickly.

"Hey, we're going to be having dinner at 6:30 most nights, so you could drop in sometime." I'd realized on my first day on the job that I didn't have a friggin' clue what to do with a kid, so I'd called my mom and my best friend, Mary Lou. They'd had some good suggestions. Mom's was that we have dinner together every night, just like when I was a kid. I didn't turn out too badly, so we'd been trying it. The only difference was Ella cooked and I was trying not to serve up maternal guilt with a side of nagging for dessert.

"Tomorrow's pizza night and Julie challenged me to a Wii bowling tournament," I cajoled when he still looked undecided.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a half grin. "Pizza? Babe – Steph, that stuff'll kill you."

I rolled my eyes, and decided to ignore his slip of the tongue. I was a little tipsy, and figured he might be, too. "Don't worry, I'm not ignoring the dietary guidelines on page 16 of the manual. Ella says whole wheat, spinach and feta pizza is fine." It was a crime against humanity, that's what it was, but Julie said she liked it.

He nodded and got up to leave. "I'll try to make it."

I did a little happy dance inside. "There was one other thing I wanted to ask you about." When he made the go on gesture, I decided to go for broke. "I've been enforcing the no-skateboarding indoors rule, and everyone's shins and ankles have been thanking me, so, on Saturday, I wanted to take Julie to a skate park a friend of mine manages."

"No."

That word always makes me push back. What can I say, it's a fatal flaw. "Why?" I asked, trying on my best innocent expression. "It's safer than the sidewalk and she'll be in pads and a helmet." Walter "Mooner" Dunphy was sort of a burn-out, but he took his skateboarding seriously.

When he didn't answer, I went in for the kill. I owed Julie, because I'd sort of already promised her. "I'll keep her off the big ramp and after that first aid course you made me take, I'm good for anything short of major surgery." Bobby Brown, the RangeMan medic, was a hardass about proper technique, but he was a pretty cool guy.

He stared at me for several long seconds. "Tank's right. You're going to be a big pain in the ass. Be ready at 1400 hours and I'll take you both to the skate park."

After he left, I did a real happy dance. Mr. Grumpy pants Mañoso was so going _down_.

* * *

Shout outs to: Necie77, Trhodes9, jules3677, Selene Aduial, Shellbell78, alix33, erdi99, West Islander, Daffybduck, deviates322, Lulubelle09, Fanfictionstalker, jkgk, caregiver, melyons, gobucks1, ThinkAboutItBabe, RangerSteph4ever, MnGrammaX3, sapphireangel09, Angela Mueller, snazzieshazzie, got2BaBabeFan, First Generation Scot, jaxg, JoanOver, Taniadanoff, Stephanie1014, Margaret aka whymelucylu, av981638, Elkniw73, Rightytighty, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews!


	4. Chapter 3 Outtake

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

AN: I had started to write the scene with Ranger, Julie and Steph at the skate park, but didn't include it in chapter 4 for space considerations. Enough people asked for it, so I filled it out a little, and here it is. There really is a 'skateboarding terms' article on Wiki. Steph and I both used it : ). I don't know a lot about skateboarding, so bear with my mistakes.

Sk8 = skate (slang); pops – means Mooner has criminal charges on his record; Awesome, Rad, totally – whatever Mooner says, just assume that it means 'good'. He's being supportive.

* * *

Chapter 3.75

What the Hell is an Ollie?

* * *

Ranger's POV

I've led teams of men into some of the worst places on Earth, on Ops so black that I technically didn't have clearance to know about them. In at least one South American country, cartel enforcers tell stories about me to scare recruits: if you're not good little boy, Mañoso will come for you. I'm not proud of this; it's just a simple fact - I have a reputation. It's not a nice one, but it's kept me alive. So what reason would a man of my reputation have to drive through a gate shaped like a giant skateboarding clown, into something called the 'Sk8 Zone'?

It was because a certain curly-haired nanny had batted her big blue eyes at me and convinced me it was a good idea to let my only child hurtle down a ramp on nothing but a flimsy piece of plywood with four wheels. Brown tells me I didn't, but I must have sustained a brain injury during my final mission. It's the only explanation.

Julie was bouncing in her seat as we stopped near the entrance of the skate park. I wasn't thrilled about the possibility of bodily harm, but I had to admit that Stephanie had a very small, miniscule point. It _was _good to see Julie happy and excited about something. So I did the only thing I could – I grabbed the skateboard from the back and followed them through yet another clown-shaped door. As we walked out into the main area, Steph handed a bag to me.

"Help her with these and I'll go find Mooner."

The helmet was self-explanatory, but the set of tiny pink pads weren't.

"That's the knee pad, Ranger." Julie giggled as she pulled her arm out of the contraption I'd just spent the last minute wrestling it into. "Here, like this."

It was a little humbling to have an eight year old laugh at me, but on the other hand….. We were talking and it wasn't weird.

By the time we'd gotten the last pad on, Steph was back with a big, goofy looking guy.

"Whoa! Check out the little dudette and the scary Bat Dude," he said. "This is going to be awesome!"

No. Just, no. I whipped out my phone and re-read the background check Silvio had sent me yesterday. Walter 'Mooner' Dunphy, 30, white male, still lived with his parents, and had a couple of minor pops for pot and possession of drug paraphernalia.

I turned to Steph. "There is no way I'm letting that stoner near Julie."

"I asked around. He's completely reformed," she whispered to me. "Star Trek and Skateboarding are his whole life, so he's really, really good."

I crossed my arms and watched him as he made some minor corrections to Julie's stance. I doubted he could pass a piss or hair follicle test, but Julie seemed to like him and he was watching her like a hawk as she rolled back and forth in front of him. Maybe the Babe was right and he'd be OK.

Julie finished her third circuit and Mooner motioned us over. I took the opportunity to check out his eyes. Hmmm, pupils normal and responsive. Maybe I'd let him live, as long as Julie came out of this without a scratch.

"Here's the sitch, little dudette," he began. "You have the potential to be a really rad skater. You're a goofy foot, but we can totally work with that." He bent down to Julie's eye level. "Don't let anyone hassle you about it, because that's just how the Big Guy in the sky made you, 'K?" He said, solemnly.

What the fuck? No Mañoso has ever had a goofy anything. My daughter is perfect.

"Stop growling," Steph whispered to me. She planted her hand on my shoulder, holding me back. "He just means that Julie rides the skateboard with her right foot leading, instead of the left."

Oh. I looked suspiciously down at the phone in Steph's hand. "There's a skateboarding article on Wikipedia?" I shook my head. "Ba-Steph, you don't know anything about skateboarding, do you?"

She lifted her chin defiantly. God, I lo- liked that stubborn chin. "I know more than you do," she shot back. "I read the whole article on the way here."

_Dios, _what was I going to do with this woman? I chuckled. "I stand corrected."

"OK, let's get you on the half-pipe and see what you can do," Mooner said, catching my attention.

If he meant one of those ramps… "No." All eyes were suddenly on me – surprised blue ones, beseeching brown ones, and confused, likely bloodshot ones. I crossed my arms and stared calmly back.

"No problemo, there's totally a lot we can do on flat ground. The Ollie is the foundation of just about every trick, so let me show you."

We both watched as he began to demonstrate how to stand and kick down on the board. "What the hell is an 'Ollie'?" Stephanie handed her phone over to me and I read the section she pointed out. "She is not doing jumps on that thing."

Steph just shook her head and grabbed my arm and dragged me a little farther away. "With all due respect, Ranger, would you just relax? He has her on the grass."

I looked back over and sure enough, there was no concrete in sight. I watched as Julie slammed the back of the board down to the ground and then jumped. She and the board only lifted a couple of inches into the air, but they both landed safely back on the ground.

"Great job, little dudette," said the stoner. "Next time bend your knees a little more and you can roll your front foot a little to help drag the board up in the air."

"Look at that!" Stephanie grinned and elbowed me. "I have no idea what he just said, but doesn't she look happy?"

Babe was right. For the first time in years, Julie was smiling and laughing, and it was thanks to a curly haired Jersey girl. Who would've thought? We both watched Julie practice the jump a few more times. After about fifteen minutes, Mooner took her back onto the cement. It was hard, but I watched my little girl slap the board down and jump as she rolled toward us. Julie and the board rose into the air, and it was beautiful – almost as beautiful as the grin on her face after she and the board landed. Safely.

Steph cheered, and dragged me along as she went to congratulate Julie.

Julie held up her hand, and looked up at me, expectantly. _Dios,_ _my kid was cute_, I thought as our palms met in a high five. Julie and Mooner went off to practice again, and I found myself sharing a grin with Steph. I'd never be able to tell her, but I was grateful that Lester had screwed up the interview lists that day. Maybe this little white girl from New Jersey could help me and Julie find each other.

* * *

AN: I'd just read the skateboarding wiki page, and I thought the term 'goofy foot' was funny. I asked my husband if he'd been goofy or regular foot way back in the day when he skateboarded. He got an outraged look on his face and made sure I knew he was 'regular foot'. It was hilarious. It's really not a big deal, it's kind of like being right or left handed. So - that's where I got the idea for Ranger's reaction to Julie being called 'goofy foot'.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

AN: Everyone has been so supportive and I appreciate all of the nice reviews, but I thought I'd share my ideas of who Ranger and Stephanie are at the beginning of this story, in case anyone's confused or thinks they're OOC. This is only my interpretation, but I thought back to how they were at the beginning of book 1. Steph has just been laid off from an office job, so she's still used to answering to a boss, sort of. She was and is all Jersey attitude, but except for her history with Morelli and Dickie Orr, and some mommy issues, nothing truly bad has happened to her, yet. She's never had a car blow up, never been kidnapped, and hasn't shot anyone. Ranger was a little more difficult. He still married Rachel because she was pregnant, still gave up Julie, and still did and went through some pretty gruesome stuff in Special Forces. Where my concept splits off is that about 20 months before this story starts, Rachel died, and he suddenly found himself responsible for a seven year old girl that he barely knew. What to do? My feeling is he would step up, and maybe stop most of the missions. He'd take in Julie and build his business, but because of his experiences, would hold himself apart from her. He doesn't have the first clue what to do with a kid and doesn't really think himself worthy of her, anyway. I decided he would treat child rearing like a military operation: write a procedures manual and hire a specialist to do the job. He certainly didn't foresee Nanny Plum ;).

* * *

Chapter 4: Meet the Plums

* * *

Stephanie's POV

Julie tripped me, and I stumbled and went down on one knee.

"Yes!" She bumped fists with Lester and jumped around the gym humming the Rocky theme. Hmmm… maybe I shouldn't let her watch movies with the guys in the break room.

So this was my first self-defense lesson, ever. I wasn't entirely sure I liked it. Lester Santos, Ranger and Julie's cousin, knew what he was doing, though. Since any attacker was bound to be bigger than either of us, he'd focused on evasive maneuvers, and moves that took advantage of the attacker's momentum. Like the little trip thing Julie had just taken me down with. In my favor, Lester had discovered that a protective cup should be standard gear when working out with me.

"Oof," I grunted as I sat up on the mat. "OK, we still have time to change before lunch at my folks' house. Who wants pot roast?" I asked, looking at Julie.

"Me! Me!" Lester shouted, as he neatly invited himself along. I rolled my eyes. Lester was a clown wrapped up in a good looking man's body. His skin was the color of warm caramel, his hair was gelled into blond-tipped spikes, and he was almost as well-built as his cousin. He'd hit on me my first day. I'd shot him down, and we'd settled into an easy camaraderie, since he seemed to pull Julie duty more often than anyone else.

"It's like having two kids to look after," I grumbled as I struggled to my feet. I was going to be sore later.

"Hey!" Julie said as she sailed past us to the door. "Lester's a much bigger kid than me!"

As I followed her upstairs to shower and change, I marveled at the difference a few short days had made. The almost silent, sullen girl from Monday had been replaced, if not by a chatterbox, a funny, cool kid. Oh, we weren't at the hugging or singing Kumbaya stage yet, but she wasn't the problem child she'd claimed to be when we met.

Her dad was going to be a tougher nut to crack, but I could tell he was trying. He'd shown up for dinner Friday night, just as we were digging into the pizza. Julie and Ranger had been a little stiff around each other at first, but they'd soon united in making fun of my attempts to make Ella's super healthy pizza edible. I'd finally settled on adding hot sauce and the spray cheese I'd picked up that morning when I'd made a TastyKake run. I'd never admit it, but the pizza was pretty good on its own. Ranger hadn't stuck around for Wii bowling, but I'd caught him watching us from the hallway with a wistful expression on his face a time or two.

He'd taken Julie and me to the skateboard park the next afternoon, as promised. To be sure, he'd spent most of the time we were there standing around and glowering like 'a scary Bat Dude' – those are Mooner's words, not mine. However, he'd smiled proudly and high fived Julie when she'd attempted her first Ollie. Since I couldn't even stay on the board at all, I was pretty impressed. He firmly said 'no' to any ramp work, but Julie had still had fun.

I wasn't sure if he'd respond to the game night challenge Julie and I had left on the dry-erase board in the kitchen, but just in case, I was going to look for that old Risk game that was probably still gathering dust in my parents' closet. We'd see how the ex-special forces guy measured up against a Jersey girl and an eight year old.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

We pulled up outside my parents' house just before noon. My friend Mary Lou had said that since Julie was on her own a lot, I should just take her along with me as I went about my normal life. I don't know if my family counts as normal, but here we were. My parents live in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, fondly known as the Burg. The houses are narrow, the yards are tiny and most of the inhabitants are Italian-American, with just enough Hungarians, Germans, and Polish thrown in to stave off in-breeding. The men mow the lawns every weekend, Lunch is served promptly at noon, and dinner is always on the table by Six PM. I'd run screaming from the Burg as soon as I graduated high school, but I somehow always ended up coming back for the occasional lunch or dinner.

"1155 hours, just like I promised, Beautiful." Lester said as he handed me and Julie out of the Explorer.

I rolled my eyes. "Always with the military time, Santos." I'd had to resort to google to decipher Julie's schedule and I still wasn't used to it.

My grandma met us at the door. Edna Mazur had been a typical Burg housewife until my Grandpa Harry went to the Great all you can eat buffet in the sky a couple of years ago. Now, she was making up for lost time and grasping at life with both hands. Today, she was decked out in a pink 'Juicy' track suit, and purple sneakers. I was just relieved that she'd left the tube tops and miniskirts in her closet, since Julie and Lester didn't need to see the aging process that up close and personal.

"Ain't this a pip!" Grandma exclaimed as she let us in. "You brought some new blood to liven things up around here. Your father hasn't moved from the TV all weekend," she mock whispered to us.

My mom came bustling in from the kitchen. "For goodness sakes, close the door and come in, all of you. Five more minutes and the roast would've dried out!"

I rolled my eyes and introduced everyone as we sat down to lunch. I don't know who'd taught Julie manners, but they'd done a good job.

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Mazur, and Mr. and Mrs. Plum," she said dutifully.

"Oh what a little lady!" My mom gushed as she loaded Julie's plate with pot roast and mashed potatoes.

"Heh, we don't stand on formality around here," my grandma cackled. "You can call me Edna or by my rap name – Snazzie G!"

Lester snorted and choked from his seat next to Grandma and my dad muttered into his pot roast. Julie looked to me for help and I furiously cast about for a solution before remembering something an old roommate from Georgia had told me once.

"How about, Ms. Edna, Mr. Frank and Ms. Helen?" I asked weakly as I tried to contain my own laughter. Everyone seemed happy with that, and lunch continued, pretty much like always. The roast wasn't dried out, the potatoes were swimming in butter, and no one except Julie and Lester touched the broccoli. Since it was the first time in memory that the broccoli bowl wouldn't go back to the kitchen full, I was afraid my mother would pass out from shock. However, she took everything in stride and I only had to steer her away from uncomfortable topics of conversation a couple of times, like when she asked Julie about school.

"Algebra in third grade!" She exclaimed. "Your mother must be so proud!"

When Julie squirmed, I broke in. "We're all proud. Remember how I failed Algebra twice, in college? Hey, what's for dessert?"

So when Ma and I went back to the kitchen to get the cake, I quickly explained the situation. Well, I left out a lot of stuff that wasn't her business, but I made sure she had the main idea.

"Oh that poor, motherless child." She pulled down another plate and cut an extra-big piece of cake. Judging by the smiley face she scrawled in whipped cream across it, I was guessing that Julie was getting the special treatment. Food is love in my family. "I was just shocked when you said you were a nanny, but I understand now. You're doin' a good thing, Stephanie."

I was a little uncomfortable with the praise, since I was being paid to watch Julie, but hey, I got an extra-big piece of pineapple upside-down cake, too. We were uncomfortably full when we finally pushed away from the table.

"That was the best cake ever, Ms. Helen!" Julie obviously hadn't been raised by me, because she helped clear the table without being threatened.

"You're welcome to come back, anytime, dear. I'll make you something special," my mother cooed as she took the dessert plates from both of us.

"Really?" She looked up at my mother with big, brown eyes. "No one has ever cooked like that for me, before."

I had to step back into the dining room before I lost it. That little con-artist! She had a trained chef cooking for her every day, and though Ella's cookies were low fat, she wasn't deprived. My mom was filling a Tupperware container with chocolate chip cookies and extra cake when I came back in with the last load of dishes.

"If you share the loot with me, I won't tell your father or Ella," I whispered as we made our way out of the kitchen. I waved goodbye to my dad and grabbed the board games he'd gotten down for me, and Grandma followed us to the door.

"Come back soon," she said as she and Julie did some sort of complicated hand shake thing. "Especially you, hot stuff!"

I rushed Julie out the door when Lester yelped. I'd forgotten to tell him to watch out for Grandma's bony little fingers. Lester was pale-faced and a little glassy eyed when he joined us at the SUV.

"Your grandma just groped me," he hissed in my ear as he fobbed open the doors.

"Sorry about that. You won't have to come back again," I offered as I listened for the click of Julie's seatbelt before strapping myself into the front seat.

"I dunno," he said, thoughtfully. "Your mom makes a good roast."

Julie giggled from the back seat. "Your family's funny, Steph!"

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

I looked nervously up and down the street as I waited next to my extremely dead Chevy Nova. I'd just finished my second week as Julie's nanny, and with my first paycheck settled comfortably in my bank account, I had decided to take a little field trip while Julie was in school. Why was I currently down on Stark Street, a place that scares the bejeezus out of your average thug or drug dealer, if they're smart?

Well, I owed someone a favor and I wanted to retrieve my great-grandmother's ring, which was really the only thing I regretted pawning back when I was having trouble making rent. I'd had the bright idea of going down to Stark Street because I didn't want my Mom to know what I was up to.

I groaned as a shiny, black Porsche 911 rolled down the street toward us. It was either a drug dealer or someone else I really didn't want to deal with.

"Ooh! Now that's an excellent car." Lula fluffed up her girls and tugged her short spandex skirt up a notch. "I'd look really good in that car."

"I don't think that's a customer," I said, as the Porsche began to slow. I pressed a business card into her hand. "Consider calling this number, OK? Connie's alright, and they're hiring."

When I'd first come down to Stark Street a few weeks ago, Lula had kept some pretty rough guys from bothering me and directed me to a pawn broker that wouldn't cheat me too badly. She was about my age, four inches shorter, and maybe fifty pounds heavier. Her outfits clearly advertised her profession, but she seemed like good people. She'd helped me out, even though her pimp clearly wasn't happy about it. She'd mentioned wanting a regular job when I met her, and while I wasn't sure she was serious, I knew of an office that just might hire her. I had some dirt on my cousin Vinnie, the weasel, and I wasn't afraid to use it.

The passenger side window slid down silently and Ranger glared out at me. "Get in."

I sketched a quick finger wave at Lula and slid into the passenger seat. I almost moaned as the scent of new leather and a really excellent cologne or shower gel enveloped me. "Sorry, my car wouldn't start or I wouldn't have bothered anyone. I thought one of the guys would come get me." I sure didn't expect the freakin' boss.

"Explain." His face was carefully blank, as usual, but I could see the lines of tension around his mouth and eyes.

So this was pissed off, Ranger. I wasn't happy to meet him. "Uh, since we're down here already, could we stop somewhere, first? Three blocks down, on the right." He looked down at the pawn ticket that I was clutching in my right hand and then back up at me. After several long seconds, he made an impatient sound in the back of his throat, but he put the car in gear and pulled out onto the street.

At the pawn shop, he held out his hand for the ticket. I reluctantly handed it over and started to rummage in my purse for some cash.

Ranger shot me a look that clearly said 'Don't insult me,' and pulled a handgun out from under his seat. "Lock the doors," he said as he held the gun out to me. "Use this if anyone bothers you."

I took the weapon with a helpless squeak and sat there with it gingerly perched on the edge of my lap. He returned after a few minutes, took the gun back from me, and dropped Gammy's ring into my hand.

"I'll have Ram work with you at the gun range," he said, his tone making it clear that this was a new condition of my employment.

I shoved the ring into the side pocket of my purse. "I hate guns."

"And you live in a building full of them, so being afraid of firearms won't work for long."

I blew out a long breath and nodded. "I'll pay you back for the ring."

"Don't worry about it." We'd stopped at a light, so he turned toward me. "I don't ever want to see you in that part of town again."

I'd had just about enough. "It was my own business! Jeeze, you're acting like I'd packed Julie into the back seat and taken a joyride down there – which I would never, ever, do," I fumed. "Have I argued about your rule that she doesn't ever go anywhere without an armed guard, even though I really don't understand what the big deal is?" _Stupid SOPs, _I muttered under my breath.

He pulled the Porsche off to the side of the road and raked his fingers through his hair as he turned toward me. "I'm only going to explain this once. I have a lot of enemies."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded at him to go on. "And?"

"I should've known you wouldn't like the short explanation." He took a deep breath. "My service for the government has given me a lot of opportunities, but I've also made a number of enemies." Our eyes met and held. "Many of these men and women would love nothing better than to use my daughter, or her pretty nanny for that matter, to get back at me."

I gasped and tried to look away, but he wouldn't let me. "They wouldn't hesitate to kidnap, torture, and even kill Julie or anyone else under my protection, so that's why those stupid SOPs are in place." He let his head fall back onto the headrest, suddenly looking very tired and about a thousand years old. "In a perfect world, none of these people would even know I had a daughter, and you and I would have never met, but life ain't perfect, so I just have to make sure that everyone is as secure as possible. Thus, the stupid SOPs," he repeated.

"So that's why Julie doesn't have your last name," I murmured as I pushed down the hurt Ranger's words had just caused. This wasn't about me, and he didn't mean it way the way I was taking it.

He nodded. "It became Martine when Ron adopted her, and I don't see the value in changing it back."

I let out a deep, shuddering breath and began to rummage around in my bag for a medicinal TastyKake. Ranger's world was scary as hell, and I just realized I was part of it, now. "OK, I get it. I promise to follow the security precautions and I won't question them or try to change them."

He grinned slightly. "Babe, you already have." At my stricken look, he explained. "You had a good point that we were drawing too much attention to Julie. Your ideas about using plain clothes guards were good ones, but be aware that I'm not relaxing security, I'm just making it harder for the bad guys to spot it," he said sternly.

I felt my cheeks heat. I'd just been trying to keep her from being teased at school. I finally found and tore into a Butterscotch Krimpet. I closed my eyes and savored the first taste of cake and sweet frosting. I took another bite and felt myself began to calm down.

Ranger cursed, startling me. When I looked up, his eyes were dark, hungry, and glued to my lips. When I licked them nervously, he growled. "Have some mercy, woman."

I ducked my head to hide my flaming cheeks. I must have been making what my ex used to call 'my porno noises' again. But as embarrassed as I was, I filed this little revelation away for future reference. I affected Ranger, almost as much as he did me, by the looks of it.

"Well, you have to admit that the guys on Julie duty are dressing better, now," I said lightly, to change the subject. "All that black was so last year."

One corner of his mouth lifted into a crooked grin. "Speak for yourself. If Santos wears that ugly-ass Hawaiian shirt again, I'm putting both of you on report." His grin turned wolfish. "Though you should feel free to adopt native Hawaiian dress, anytime."

I snorted in disgust. "You're almost as big of a pig as Lester." I was pretty sure he was thinking grass skirts and no top, and not the floor length Muumuu Aunt Tootie had brought back from her trip to Maui.

He just shook his head and pulled back out into traffic. "Anything else come up since last night?"

I wasn't entirely sure what had changed, but he'd only missed 'family' dinner twice in the last week. He and Julie were still a little uncomfortable around each other but I could tell that they both were making an effort. He'd beaten us both at Risk Sunday night, and he'd helped Julie with her science homework the night before. I'd flunked high school chemistry, so I was happy to turn that chore over to him.

"Well, there is this one thing I wanted to run by you," I began.

"The last time you said that, I ended up letting a stoner teach dangerous skateboard tricks to my only daughter."

"It wasn't that bad," I protested. "Mooner's reformed, and she was wearing pads." I huffed out a breath. "This is a much, much smaller deal. A woman I went to high school with has a daughter in Julie's class. The two girls get along, so my friend wants to invite Julie over to their house. It'll be good for Julie," I finished quickly.

"She can go if you're there, and they pass the background check."

I started to protest – I mean it was a play date, for Christ's sake, but then I remembered our earlier conversation and my promise to Ranger. "Fine," I sighed. "I'll get their names and address to you. I'll even do you one better and have Grandma troll the grapevine for info on the Martinellis."

He shook his head. "You're really saying gossip is better than what the most sophisticated search engines known to man can pull up?"

Yep, that's exactly what I was saying. "You have no concept of the power of the Burg grapevine," I told him solemnly.

* * *

A sincere thanks to: highlands girl, got2BaBabeFan, frostdance, Liz 1969, Stephanie 1014, 56 olds, trhodes9, Daffybduck, Shellbell78, MnGrammaX3, DebK, av981638, First Generation Scot, erdi99, gobucks1, jules3677, Fanfictionstalker, jaxg, Nikki9601, deviates322, Lulubelle09, Hazy101, jkgk, Lilygreen, ThinkAboutItBabe, Margaret aka whymelucylu, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews!


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: Italics denote a flashback. Tío – uncle; Mija – my daughter (informal). **

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Chapter 5: Thoughts and Ruminations

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Stephanie's POV

So I was getting Julie's uniforms ready for her last week of school, and it suddenly hit me: my whole life had changed in just a couple of months. Case in point: I, Stephanie Plum, who never planned for anything past which takeout to get on the way home, was currently pairing five tiny white shirts with five very small pleated navy skirts. Tights and underwear went into a special bag Ella had sewn onto the hangers.

It was maybe a little too domestic for me, but after a couple of chaotic mornings that almost ended with _me_ in tears, I'd called my best friend, Mary Lou. ML and I have a lifetime of history – from swapping lunches and clothes to covering for each other when we wanted to break curfew, so she has my back and shared every trick she'd ever learned as a battle-hardened mother of three boys.

So with her help, Julie and I had worked out a routine. The bath happened before bed (and ML made sure I knew how lucky I was that Julie could be trusted to hit the major spots on her own and to not flood the bathroom), so that when the alarm went off at 7:45, all I had to do was stumble to the connecting door and yell for her to wake up. Julie was usually half awake by the time I'd dragged on a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, so it didn't take more than a couple of threats to get her out of bed and dressed. Ella, bless her, always left a breakfast burrito for Julie and an extra-large go cup of coffee for me on the kitchen counter, so we were out the door by just after 8 AM. I did her hair in the backseat of the SUV while either Zip, Binkie, Zero, or Woody drove. Since Saint Ella took care of the actual cooking and cleaning, I even got to grab a nap after the school drop-off. Yeah, yeah, I had a village to help me raise this child, but I never claimed to be Super Mom.

That's another thing – while the 'M' word always gave me an eye twitch, and was to be avoided at all costs, I was without a doubt, the full time care-giver to an eight year old girl. I even had the legally binding contract to prove it. Ranger had tried to tie me down to a five year contract at the end of my trial period, but I'd only committed to getting Julie through fifth grade.

So, when I'd whined to ML about not having any free time, she'd just rolled her eyes and said 'welcome to my life.' The thought didn't panic me _quite_ as much as I thought it would. I had put any vague ideas about having kids firmly on the shelf years ago, because kids to me meant commitment and marriage, and I'd sworn off both of those when I'd realized that my husband was playing hide the salami with just about everyone in Trenton except for me. Dickie Orr and I hadn't made it to our first anniversary, but I'd promised myself that the lessons I'd learned from him would last me a lifetime. So, while marriage wasn't on my bucket list, and I still wasn't sure I should be trusted with small children, watching out for Julie was… satisfying. She was a pretty cool kid, and the last couple of months had certainly not been dull.

Like when I discovered that Julie was the best shopping companion ever, able to melt the resistance of even the most stubborn RangeMan.

_"__Look, Jules, we've been here for three hours already. Don't you want to go home so you can try on all of these pretty clothes?" Lester said in his best wheedling tone as he held up the half dozen bags we'd collected as we cut a wide swath through Macy's, Gymboree and The Children's place. I hid my grin behind my hand. I knew for a fact that Lester had a hot date with a waitress he'd met at some club, and we were cutting into his primping time._

_"__But Tío Lester, I really need new some new barrettes," she said as she looked longingly toward the Claire's store. She turned her big, brown, and suspiciously moist eyes on him. "Don't you want me to look pretty?"_

_I gave her a stern talking to later about torturing her merry band of RangeMen, but the kid had definite style. We got all the time we needed at the accessories store, and Lester didn't say a thing when we stopped at Pinkberry for frozen yogurt on the way out of the mall. _

My new job came with a whole list of unexpected requirements. Some were OK, like the self-defense lessons, because, well, tripping or nailing Lester Santos in the boys never got old.

However, I'd tried to argue with Ranger that Julie and I didn't require anything but basic gun safety, but he'd firmly pointed out that he'd already taught her to be safe around guns and that as the adult, more was expected of me. I did not enjoy the half hour of mandatory range time per week. At all. And to be fair, I don't think my instructors did, either.

_"__Uh, not bad, Steph," Cal said weakly as he pulled in my latest target. "But seriously, could you keep your eyes open when you shoot?" We both leaned in and studied the target. Most of the clip had gone wide, but I'd planted several rounds in a tight circle, right over the paper man's crotch. _

_I put my finger through the torn paper and Cal turned green. For a guy with a skull tattooed on his forehead, he was awfully squeamish. "Well, at least I hit the target this time." _

_To his credit, Cal figured out how to motivate me – donuts from the Tasty Pastry if my range scores improved. I passed my firearms qualification a month later. _

I'd taken to the driving lessons a little better though. After my trial period, Ranger had presented me with the keys to a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee. My mother had warned me about accepting gifts from men, but even though it was mine to drive for personal use, it really was just a company car, right?

My Nova had mysteriously disappeared after that day on Stark Street, so I figured I could use it until I'd saved up enough for a new car of my own. And the Jeep was a lot less conspicuous than the Hummers for errands and school drop offs. Of course, I didn't actually get to drive it myself until I was checked out on tail spotting and defensive driving.

_"__Jesus H. Christ!" Tank exclaimed as I cut across three lanes of traffic on Highway 1 and hopped the median to go in the opposite direction. After a few blocks I cut through to the Acme's parking lot, dodging parked cars and shopping carts until we came to a stop between two larger SUVs._

_Tank slowly uncurled his fingers from the grab bar and reached into his pocket for a handkerchief, the white square almost comically dainty in his large brown hand. He mopped his brow before turning to glare at me. "What the hell kind of driving was that, little girl?"_

_"__You told me to lose the tail, so I lost it," I told him matter-of-factly. I reached into the back for my purse. "You're looking kind of pale there, big guy. Want me to get you a soda?"_

_I passed with flying colors. Learning to drive on the Jersey Turnpike was worth something, after all._

I finished with the uniforms and made my way back into my apartment, where Julie was working on her end of year project on the living room floor. Seriously, who made third graders write reports and build dioramas? Of course, watching Ranger try to help Julie construct an Old West fort out of cereal and Popsicle sticks had been strangely amusing. Julie's dad was probably the biggest surprise I'd encountered over the last couple of months.

When I'd met him, I'd thought Ranger was good looking, but as cold and scary as they come. I'd slowly recognized that he wasn't cold at all. The RangeMen would follow him anywhere, and he loved his daughter. He just didn't have a freakin' clue what to do with her.

But, over the last few weeks, I'd watched them slowly grow closer. The man who'd barely spent five minutes in the same room with his kid the first week I was there had first started showing up for dinner most nights, and then staying to help with homework or watch TV a couple of times a week. He'd stood with me to cheer Julie on at her first swim meet, and he'd even come with us to the skate park a few times. I think that's due more to the fact that he still didn't trust Mooner than a new-found interest in skateboarding, but still – he was there.

My latest scheme had worked like gangbusters, too. I'd negotiated for one evening off a week, and if my time off just happened to coincide with Ella and Luis' weekly date night, that was entirely accidental. A picture of him and Julie asleep on the couch after watching 'Frozen' is the wall paper on my phone.

Don't get me wrong, I still think he's scary, but I kind of like him. According to the guys, Ricardo Carlos "Ranger" Mañoso is a highly-trained ex-Special Forces soldier, sometimes mercenary, and I'm pretty sure he's killed people. But he's a generous employer, an even more generous father, and I've seen the man glue glitter onto poster board. But it wasn't until a few days ago that I'd realized that I had growing feelings for father and daughter.

_Julie, Zip, Zero and I had stopped off at the Tasty Pastry after school to celebrate Julie's latest 'A'. I'm pretty sure the RangeMan employment contract forbids consumption of sugar and fat, so the guys waited in the Jeep while we went inside. I was almost to the front of the line when I heard someone call out a nickname I just really wish would just go away._

_"__Hey, Cupcake, long time no see."_

_Startled, I turned toward the speaker, and groaned. "Morelli." Joe Morelli and I had grown up in the same neighborhood, and we had a lot of history. None of it was particularly good. When I was six, he'd invited me over to his dad's garage to play a new game – choo-choo. His finger was the train and I was the tunnel; I remember wondering why he got to be the train. _

_The line was taking for-freaking-ever, so I was still by the éclair case when he reached me. _

_"__You're looking good, Cupcake," he said as moved into my personal space, a little. He'd been a real heart breaker in high school, with his own particular combination of good looks and bad boy attitude that drew girls like flies. From the looks he was shooting me, he hadn't changed much; he was hot and he knew it. _

_I tried to move me and Julie along, but he cut me off, caging me between him and the éclair case. "You and me, here, this brings back a lot of memories," he growled into my ear._

_Eww. Did lines like that really work for him? "Hmm…. Not sure I know what you're talking about," I lied. He'd sweet talked me out of my virginity behind this very same pastry case when I was 16. Joe'd left for the Navy the next day, but not before writing about our encounter in half of the men's rooms in town. _

_"__But I do seem to remember you rolling around on the ground crying after I bumped you with my dad's Buick," I continued. A couple of years after the Tasty Pastry incident, I'd spotted him coming out of Giovichinni's Deli. The vehicular assault was maybe a little overkill, but it was only a simple fracture._

_I tried to duck out from under his arm, but he stopped me again. "You've gotten feisty. I think I like it."_

_I'd had enough, but before I could employ my patented nutcracker knee, he suddenly winced, and pulled back slightly._

_"__You let her go," Julie said, her expressions fierce as she tried to wedge her way in between us. Her foot was raised to strike him in the shin, again._

_Joe flicked his eyes toward Julie. "Cute kid."_

_I grabbed his wrist hard, and pivoted, freeing myself. "This is getting real old, so why don't you just leave, Morelli?"_

_He took a step back as I moved between him and Julie, his hands in the air. "Hey, I just wanted to say hello." _

_I rolled my eyes. "Shouldn't you still be in jail?" Joe's a plain clothes cop for Trenton PD. A couple of months before, he'd turned the whole town on its ear when he'd been arrested for murder. He'd since managed to clear his name, but rumors were still circulating._

_His eyes went flat and hard. "You're still a real bitch, Steph." _

_I heard several gasps from just behind me and to the left. Damn, I'd forgotten we were in public. I looked around and saw Loretta Buzick and Julia Kruselli texting furiously on their phones, and groaned. Great, I'd never hear the end of this from my mother. _

_I was just about to give them something to really talk about when Julie pushed in front of me, her expression murderous. "And you're hairy like a monkey, so why don't you just swing out of here?"_

_I bit my lip to keep from laughing, and pulled Julie in close to me. "What she said, Morelli."_

_Joe made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. "I heard you were watching Mañoso's kid. He's real bad news, Cupcake, and it looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."_

_I felt my inner rhino stir. "Now listen Morelli, you don't even get to look at her!" I'd started toward him, when I suddenly felt a tingling sensation race along my spine._

_"__Is there a problem, officer?" My eyes flew to just behind Morelli's left shoulder. Who had called Ranger?_

_Ranger stepped around Morelli, pulling me and Julie to him until we both stood in the circle of his left arm, my back to his chest. His arm tightened around me and it felt… warm. Possessive. "Is Officer Morelli bothering either of you?"_

_"__It's Detective," Morelli said through clenched teeth._

_I leaned into Ranger, mostly to block his gun hand, some. "Nah, Joe was just leaving." _

_Joe snorted. "So that's how it is. We'll have to have a beer sometime, Mañoso, and compare notes. She's real sweet, ain't she?"_

_I heard more gasps, and closed my eyes in humiliation. There was no way this wasn't going to end up on YouTube. The bakery had gone completely silent, so I cautiously opened one eye to look around._

_Ranger stood there, his face blank as he stared down Morelli with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. When I looked at Julie, she was regarding Joe with an identical expression. Huh, I guess some things are genetic. _

_Morelli stood tall for several seconds, and then began to squirm. Finally, he just turned on his heel and left. It was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen._

_I pushed back from Ranger a little and stared up at him, wide eyed. "You just sent him running with a look. Mooner's right, you really are Batman."_

_"__Ba-Steph." His hand skimmed along my back as he pulled away from me and Julie. His touch was probably entirely innocent, but it still sent spikes of heat straight to my doodah._

_He studied us both. "He hurt you?"_

_I shook my head. "Nah, Julie took care of him."_

_Ranger's lips twitched as he and Julie bumped fists. "That's my girl." _

_I stood back and watched as Julie began to chatter to Ranger. They both sported grins that were so alike, it made my heart clench. In that moment, I realized just how much I loved that little girl. I refused to examine my feelings for her father, but I was afraid that they went much deeper than I liked. Not that it would or should come to anything._

_The counter lady, Marion, came around and handed me a bakery box. "Sorry about that. They're on the house."_

_I started to check out the contents, when I suddenly remembered where we were and who I was with. Ranger was a real food Nazi, and Donut runs were definitely not in the Nanny SOPs. "Uh…. Grandma had a donut emergency," I told him lamely._

_Ranger shook his head. "Pathetic." He gave Julie's shoulder a quick squeeze, and looked down at her. "Well, we should run them over to the Plums' now so that we don't miss dinner, right mija?" His grin turned slightly evil. "I heard Ella's trying out something new with kale."_

_Julie and I shared a stricken look. We were so busted. "Kale, yum. Can't wait," I said weakly. "Hey Jules, did you tell him about your math test, yet?"_

_We went back to RangeMan with Ranger while Zip and Zero took over the donut delivery. I was almost as certain that they were the ones that had called Ranger, as I was that the donuts really didn't make it to my parents'. On the bright side, dinner was roast chicken and vegetables, and there was nary a kale leaf in sight. Ella made pudding for dessert in honor of Julie's 'A'. It was sugar-free, but still tasted OK. _

Julie's voice finally brought me out of my reverie. "Hey Steph," she called from her spot in the living room. "Was Wild Bill Hickok a real person?"

"No clue," I said as I pulled up the google app on my phone. "Maybe Wiki knows."

Yep, my life was definitely different, now, but that wasn't such a bad thing.

* * *

AN: I'm not entirely sure Morelli would have accosted Steph in the Tasty Pastry that way, but I remembered the slightly creepy way he hit on Steph in the 'One for the Money' movie so he could grab her keys and throw them in the dumpster, so I went for it. A shout out to jenio1 – she PM'd me to ask if I was going to write a confrontation with Morelli, and I replied, why yes, and I just happened to be working on it for my next chapter. I was waffling over having Ranger in the scene, but thanks to her encouragement, I left in the fearsome bat glare bit. :P.

A special shout out to: Anonymous, KbellaManoso, caregiver, Selene Aduial, darkangel62636, KLpuppies21, trhodes9, Shanit, Ziandra2010, Barb4psu, iloveedward12, First Generation Scot, wyominggal, Elkniw73, MnGrammaX3, Daffybduck, carrotmusic, Fanfictionstalker, erdi99, lundyred, jaxg, alix33, Lilygreen, DebK, Margaret aka whymelucylu, ThinkaboutItBabe, bgrgrmpy, jules3677, Stephanie1014, Darcy, Ohtootsie, deviates322, jkgk, av981638, IrishHoney, Angela Mueller, jenio1, bkc04 and guest reviewers. Thanks for all of your reviews and comments.


	7. Chapter 5 outtake

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

Pendejo – idiot, mija – my daughter, Dios – God

AN: I hate to repeat dialogue, but it was unavoidable in this case. You asked for it, Margaret, so here is the Morelli showdown from Ranger's POV

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Chapter 5.75 Morelli is a Pendejo

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Ranger's POV

It had been a fucking long day, and it wasn't anywhere close to over. My day had started when I'd taken Benny to the mats at 0530, and I'd had to call Santos to the mats for showing up to the morning briefing hung over. He's my cousin, but the weekend does not start on Thursday. I'd spent the morning and early afternoon in client meetings. I'd signed a couple of new accounts, but at the last meeting the wife had been more interested in my dick than a security system.

As the cherry on the top of my messed up day, I'd just spent a half hour sitting on a suspiciously sticky chair in Vinnie Plum's office. We'd been handling his higher bond skips since we opened up the Trenton office a few months ago. Vinnie was OK as far as perverts go, but he'd tried to stiff us on our percentage again. Since Vinnie is a bona fide coward, I'd straightened out the misunderstanding with minimum fuss, but the truth was I was tired, fed up, and really wanted a beer and a fucking shower. And not necessarily in that order.

I'd just left Plum Bail bonds, and was headed back to Haywood, when I saw a familiar silver jeep parked in front of that bakery Babe likes. Grinning to myself, I pulled a U-ey and slid in behind the Jeep. My day was looking up. I'd go in, say hi to Julie and tease Steph some about her junk food addiction; if I were really lucky, Steph would eat a donut in front of me. _Dios_, the sounds that woman makes when she eats. Just the thought of them is enough to make me hard. I discreetly adjusted myself to hide my growing problem, and got out of the Cayenne.

Zip and Zero arguing by the front door was my first clue that something was wrong. Didn't the idiots know that their place was inside, watching over my daughter?

"Report."

Zip was furious, and Zero just looked guilty. "Someone's hassling Steph," Zip ground out.

"And you're out here?"

"It's a fucking cop!" Zero's jaw clenched. "Normally I wouldn't let that stop us but…"

Yeah, he had a point. The Trenton PD had blundered into one our takedowns the week before. No one had gotten shot, but tensions between us and the cops were still high.

I gestured for them to set up a perimeter and slipped inside the door. It was that plain clothes cop, what's his name. We'd worked with him once when we were just setting up in town. The Feds had contracted with RangeMan to help coordinate a bust, and the cop… Morelli, had been the local liaison. He'd had some trouble with the law, himself, a couple months back, but word on the street was that he was back on the job.

He and Steph were facing off over by one of the pastry cases, and the tension in her shoulders and the way she had Julie plastered to her side had my hand on my gun.

"You're still a real bitch, Steph," said the soon to be dead cop.

I was just about to intervene when Julie pushed in front of Steph. "And you're hairy like a monkey, so why don't you just swing out of here?"

_Dios_, my kid is something else. If she wasn't facing off against a potentially dangerous cop, I'd be so proud of her. Steph proved my trust in her wasn't misplaced by pulling Julie back into the circle of her arms. Steph was a good looking woman, but seeing her so protective of Julie and sassing back to that asshole only made her hotter to me.

Morelli made a sound of disgust. "I heard you were watching Mañoso's kid. He's real bad news, Cupcake, and it looks like the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

I'd heard enough. I stepped forward before Babe could go for his throat.

"Is there a problem, officer?" I asked, softly. I kept my eyes on the cop as I stepped around him until I could pull Julie and Steph to me, and away from the asshole. Babe was warm and soft against my chest and Julie was still cradled protectively against her side. If we weren't in a public store with a bunch of busy bodies, I'd be a pretty damn happy man right now.

"Is Officer Morelli bothering either of you?" I asked them, even as I kept my eyes glued to Morelli. _That's right, Pendejo. They're mine._

"It's Detective," Morelli said through clenched teeth.

Stephanie leaned into me, and I had to work to swallow a groan. Now was not the time to pop wood. "Nah, Joe was just leaving," she said as she wrinkled her nose in that cute way she has.

"So that's how it is," Morelli sneered. "We'll have to have a beer sometime, Mañoso, and compare notes. She's real sweet, ain't she?"

Not in a million fucking years. The _pendejo_ might think he has a past with my Babe, but if he wants to keep breathing, he'll get the hell out of here. I focused on my breathing and slowly forced my hand away from my hip holster. Steph was trying to block my gun hand, but the only thing that kept me from shooting him at that moment was a dozen witnesses, one of whom was my eight year old daughter.

I locked eyes with the _pendejo _and let every ounce of the rage I was feeling show. Morelli stood rigid for several seconds. Finally, he began to fidget, and then he turned tail and ran like the little pussy boy he was.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax.

Steph pulled away and stared up at me, wide eyed. "You just sent him running with a look. Mooner's right, you really are Batman."

"Ba-Steph." _Dios_, but she's cute. _She really had no idea how funny she is, or how she can calm me with just a few words and a look_, I thought. The rest of my tension fled as I reluctantly let her go, my hand skimming across her back and over the sweet curve of her hip. I'm an asshole for touching her like that, but after the last few minutes, I was hungry for as much of her as I could get.

I stepped back and studied Steph and Julie. "He hurt you?" I asked them. Steph was looking a little strung out, but Julie's face was perfectly composed, and the look in her eyes at that moment probably mirrored my own. My little girl was a warrior.

Steph shook her head. "Nah, Julie took care of him."

_And I'd never been prouder_, I thought as I leaned down to bump fists with Julie. "That's my girl."

I crouched down in front of Julie and couldn't wipe the grin off my face as she began to talk a mile a minute. She told me about her day and how she'd kicked the Morelli pendejo in the knee. He hadn't struck back, so I'd let him live, but I had a feeling we'd settle our score one of these days. No one put that look of fear and shame on Steph's face and got away with it.

I stood and took Julie's hand just as the counter clerk handed Steph a bakery box. Ah… it looks like I'd still get to give Steph shit about the donuts. Maybe the whole day wasn't shot, after all.

Steph looked over at me, guiltily. "Uh…. Grandma had a donut emergency," she said as she bit her lip, nervously.

_Fuck._ The woman had to know she was torturing me every time she gnawed on that perfect, pink, lower lip. "Pathetic." I gave Julie's shoulder a quick squeeze. "Well, we should run them over to the Plums' now so that we don't miss dinner, right _mija_?" I shot them both an evil grin. "I heard Ella's trying out something new with kale."

I had to fight to hold in the laugh that threatened to escape at the looks on their faces. Yes, ladies, you are busted.

"Kale, yum. Can't wait," Steph said, her voice just a touch weak. "Hey Jules, did you tell him about your math test, yet?"

As I followed my girls out of the bakery, I had only two thoughts: I'd never been prouder of _mija_, and I wouldn't rest until I'd found out just what the deal was with Steph and Morelli. If it was what I think it was, he could just kiss his career goodbye.


	8. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

_AN: Barrio – neighborhood; primo – cousin; loco – crazy. _

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Chapter 6: Secret Agent Grandma

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"No, Rudnick is Francine Nowicki's nephew, not her boyfriend," I explained as I and several of the guys huddled around a pile of files on the table. "Would it be easier for you if I used codenames like in the military? Subject R is a familial relation to Subject N." I intoned solemnly. Lester and Woody cracked up, but Hal and Ram nodded thoughtfully. I was just about to go looking for a snack when a voice boomed from the doorway.

"Report!"

The guys and I turned as one toward the break room door. As Ranger walked in, they all stood at attention. Since I wasn't sure what he meant by 'report', I grabbed a bran muffin from the counter and sat back down. I'd read my employment contract and saluting or standing to attention wasn't in it.

The guys all looked to Lester, who sighed and handed the top folder over to Ranger. "Harmon Rudnick, age 36, FTA on trafficking and extortion charges."

When I'd first started to look after Julie for Ranger, I hadn't been sure what RangeMan did. It turned out it was a little bit of everything – commercial and residential security monitoring, body guarding, and even something called redecorating, which I'm pretty sure did not entail paint or fabric swatches. One of their more lucrative enterprises, though, was bounty hunting. Apparently, if you got charged with a crime, you had the option of sitting in jail or convincing someone, like a bail bondsmen, to post bail for you. And, if you just happened to forget your court date (failure to appear, or FTA), the person assigned your file was duly authorized to kick your door in and drag your ass back to jail. If most bounty hunters looked like Tank, Cal, or Ranger, I didn't know why anyone jumped bail.

"Anyway," Lester continued, "The bond's about to expire on this guy, so Steph here is the man with the plan. Uh, beautiful, incredibly intelligent woman with the plan," he hastily amended at my glare.

Ranger's jaw tightened as he silently regarded Lester. "Assemble a team. We'll meet in conference room one in 30 to discuss this plan. Santos, my office in five." I was just about to grab one of Ella's sandwiches to go with my muffin when Ranger stopped at the door. "You, too, Stephanie."

I closed the refrigerator door and looked over at Hal. "Why do I feel like I'm being called to the principal's office?" His snickers followed me out the door. _Bastard._

Lester was already in Ranger's office by the time I got there. Ranger regarded us stoically across his desk as we got comfortable. Well, Lester was being a gentleman, so he let me have the visitor's chair.

"Explain."

Lester grinned and clapped me on the shoulder. "Meet RangeMan's newest intelligence operative and researcher for bonds enforcement."

I looked sharply up at Lester. "Huh?" And then it dawned on me. "Oh, you mean like when I check the grapevine for info for you."

I'd taken to grabbing lunch in the break room lately, because, let's face it, just waiting around for Julie to get out of school or day camp was pretty boring. I'd happened to hear Lester and Bobby Brown complaining about a skip a couple of weeks ago, and since I'd gone to school with the guy, I'd made a couple of phone calls and found out which bar he was hanging out at nowadays. Since then I'd helped them locate a few other FTAs who hailed from the Burg.

Ranger's eyebrow rose in question. "You're using gossip to locate FTA's. As in the rumors old women spread around in the beauty parlor?"

Lester nodded emphatically. "Exactly. It's no different than using a street informant." When Ranger didn't answer immediately, he continued. "Look, bond enforcement has been on line in this office for five months, already, and what's our capture rate? 80 percent?"

"Seventy-eight percent," Ranger corrected, curtly.

"Yeah, and I know just how happy you are about that." Lester raked his hand through his hair, making his spikes stand up even more. "And guess what most of the FTAs we've failed to bring in have in common?" He paused for effect. "They're from the Burg."

"You know, Chambersburg, where I grew up?" I added helpfully.

Ranger's eyebrow rose even higher. "And?"

Lester continued. "That neighborhood is more insular and mistrustful of outsiders than even our old _barrio_, _primo_. The families are huge and so interconnected that everyone knows everyone, but they don't talk to just anyone." He snorted. "It's not like Stark Street where you can just pass a bum a twenty, and don't even get me started on how useless our search engines can be."

All expression left Ranger's face, almost like a curtain closing. "You mean the best search programs currently available – the ones the FBI would kill for?"

Lester chuckled. "Take our buddy Harmon, here. He's got no known address, he's got no job and he hasn't touched his credit or bank cards in weeks. What he does have is a whole town full of relatives, who are probably taking turns putting him up." Les shook his head. "And we've spent the last three weeks sitting around with our dicks in our hands, watching a bunch of empty houses. Steph located him in less than a day."

"Oh God, half the women in town and my grandma would've killed to see that." I giggled and then choked when they both glared at me. "Oh, shut up, it's like a job requirement – you have to be hot to work here."

Ranger smirked. "That's how you got hired, isn't it?"

I scowled. "Keep that up and I won't tell you where Harmon will be this afternoon."

Lester smirked. "You want to hear this, it's that good. Go on, Beautiful."

I took a deep breath. "It's not that complicated. I didn't go to school with Harmon, but I did go to school with his sister, who was complaining to my friend, Mary Lou, about being cut out of her Aunt's will. So, long story short, I had grandma do a little digging for me. Their Aunt is Francine Nowicki, who inherited a bundle from her third husband, Four Fingers Malloy." Their eyes were glazing over, so I hurried along. "Thelma Wolinski keeled over at Bingo the other day and her viewing is today. Francine always said that she would dance on Thelma's grave, so she won't miss the viewing or funeral for anything. She's getting her hair done and everything."

At their blank looks, I just rolled my eyes. "Look, Francine is about two Bingo games from keeling over herself, so anyone still in the running to inherit is dancing attendance on her." I sat back and looked at Ranger expectantly.

He shook his head. "And?"

Lester snorted. "Forgive him, Beautiful. He was dropped on his head when he was a baby."

I giggled when Ranger flipped Lester off. "And, rumor has it that Harmon is the current favorite, so there's a good chance he'll be the one to take Francine to the viewing, tonight."

"So we're staking out a funeral home," Ranger said, flatly.

"Sort of," I said, looking to Lester for help.

"We've gone over it, and we think a distraction would work best for this op," he said with a straight face.

A distraction, I'd learned, was useful for getting skips out bars and other public places. Send a good looking woman in, and hey, presto, she leads the scumbag out into RangeMan's waiting arms.

"At a fucking funeral home?" Ranger shook his head. "_Loco_," he muttered under his breath.

Lester and Ranger shared a long, speaking look before Lester stood. "I'll go start the meeting."

After he left, Ranger looked at me steadily for a couple of minutes, which was eerily reminiscent of my job interview three months before. "You already have a job," he said, finally.

"Yep, I have the two year contract and everything, which is what I've been telling Lester," I snapped back.

I thought for a second, "But… I really don't mind helping them out a couple of hours here and there, while Julie's at science camp, or school," I continued. "I'm so freakin' bored with Dr. Oz and Ellen, I've started watching the Food Network." I rolled my eyes. "It's just a matter of time before I actually try to cook something, and it won't be pretty, Ranger."

He raised one eyebrow. "Yeah, I remember the cookie incident."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It was bad cookie dough." The tollhouse factory had obviously messed up a batch.

Ranger shook his head. "If Lester's right, we've wasted so many resources on this Rudnick idiot, we'll be lucky to break even." Since Lester had explained that RangeMan's cut was twenty-five grand, that was a lot of man hours.

He regarded me silently for several more beats. "You got a solid lead on him with a couple of phone calls, so as long as it doesn't interfere with Julie's care..."

I smiled. "It hasn't, yet."

Ranger scribbled a couple of figures on the pad in front of him and pushed it toward me. "Your choice, percentage of the bond, or a flat fee for each successful apprehension you help with."

I gaped at him. "You already pay me an outrageous salary." Seriously, what crazy person paid their babysitter six figures? However, I hoped he never came to his senses.

"You do the work, you get paid," he said flatly.

"Well there was this killer pair of heels that I saw other day," I said faintly as I pointed toward the flat fee figure. That would buy a lot of FMPs.

Ranger closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain. "One condition. I can't have you and the men flirting like I saw in the break room," Ranger said. "It's disruptive."

I felt my cheeks heat. "I don't flirt! We were just joking around!" I slumped back in my chair, fuming. Of all the sexist things he could say.

Ranger pinched the bridge of his nose. "That came out wrong. Look, I know my men, and they're a bunch of horny bastards. They may not think they're doing anything wrong, but I'd rather they not do anything to make you uncomfortable."

Oh. Slightly mollified, I waved away his concerns. "The guys are like a bunch of older brothers. Well, like an annoying second cousin twice removed, in Lester's case. They're not interested." Ranger stared at me steadily. "Well, I'm definitely not interested. Nope – I'm totally off men," I amended.

"I'm going to end up killing someone," he muttered under his breath.

Huh. If it were anyone else, I'd think he was jealous. "Hey, I appreciate the brotherly concern, but you really don't have to protect my virtue, you know."

Ranger eyes darkened as he held the door for me. "You keep telling yourself that."

As we made our way to the conference room, I decided I didn't even want to know what he meant by his statement. Denial was my friend.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

We pulled up outside of my parents' at a quarter 'til seven.

"I still don't know why we have to pick up Mrs. Mazur," Zip complained. Since he'd been at the mercy of grandma's fingers a couple of times, I didn't blame him.

Lester smacked him in the back of the head. "Were you asleep during the briefing?" Lester, bless him, didn't point out that grandma had insisted on being at the apprehension as her payment for the information.

"Can we get this show on the road?" Ranger growled.

Grandma met us at the door. "Hot damn! This is going to be just like 'Dog the Bounty Hunter'!" Luckily for us, she was in one of her more conservative outfits. I'd worn the black slip dress I saved for funerals and viewings, so we matched, sort of.

"I sincerely hope, not, Mrs. M, since I'm better looking than he is," Lester said as he gave grandma a hand with her purse. I had to stifle a giggle as he covertly snuck grandma's .45 out of her bag and tucked it into his waistband. He'd learned to watch grandma since she'd set off the metal detectors at the mall that one time.

She stopped in front of Ranger. "Hey, who's the new hottie?"

"This is my boss, grandma," I said as I sent a pleading look her way. Grandma must love me, because her hands stayed at her sides.

"Oh, this is Julie's father! You must be so proud of her!" My mom gushed from the front door. "You should come to dinner tomorrow. I'm making a nice lasagna –Julie's favorite."

"Ma, he's real busy." And since I knew the guys talked, I was pretty sure Ranger was smart enough to avoid the Plum family circus. Grandma had taken up belly dancing, but she was keeping it sort of clean in front of Jules.

"I would love to," Ranger interjected smoothly. "Julie talks about you often, and how much she loves visiting your home."

"Oh, aren't you the polite one?" My mom simpered and patted her hair. Seeing my mom in full flirt mode was just that horrifying, so I hustled everyone back to the Escalade before she could invite us in.

Stiva's funeral home is a Burg institution and it was unusually packed for a weeknight viewing.

After we'd parked, Hal and Vince met us in the back lot. I almost didn't recognize Hal out of uniform, but if anything, the dress shirt and tie made him look even more enormous than usual.

Lester outlined the plan. "Alright, Hal and Vince are on the inside, the rest of us are covering the doors." He looked over at me, expectantly.

"Yeah, since you'd stick out like a sore thumb in this crowd otherwise, grandma and I are going in with you." I studied Vince and Hal for a second. "Hal, you're a visiting cousin, and Vince, I guess you get to be my date."

"Hell yeah!" Vince crowed. "I knew I'd wear you down sooner or later."

I rolled my eyes. "In your dreams."

Ranger growled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Mats, 0700' which had the effect of getting Vince to drop his arm from around my shoulders. "Do a com check so we can get this disaster over with," he said to us.

I would've been a little insulted, but the way grandma cackled over the mic Les handed her was a little scary.

"Ain't this a pip! This is going to be like one of those spy movies." She clacked her dentures at Lester. "I always wanted to be one of them Bond girls."

Les blanched, but held it together. "This is a one-time thing, Mrs. M." He'd agreed to let grandma help, since no one knew how to navigate a Burg viewing like she did, but he'd been clear that he'd rather get his boys stuck in a vise than let this be a regular thing.

Once inside, Grandma and Hal made their way to the refreshment table, and Vince and I scanned the room. "Hey, I think that's Francine over by the casket," I said as I nudged him in the side.

Vince nodded. "Confirmed sighting of subject and elderly white female," he said softly, as he tilted his head down slightly, presumably so his mic could pick up better.

I rolled my eyes. "You're doing a great job blending in there, Vince."

Grandma and Hal rejoined us. "The cookies were no good tonight – all store bought." She looked toward the casket. "Hey, ain't that- ?"

"Yes, but don't draw attention to us, OK?" I hissed into her ear.

Hal looked doubtfully over at the casket in the corner. "It's awfully crowded over there, I don't know how we're going to get him in this mess."

Grandma cackled and rubbed her hands together. "Leave that to me."

The guys just looked at me. "I guess this is where the distraction comes in," I murmured as we hurried after her.

Grandma is maybe five-four in her old lady heels, but she could carve a path through a crowd at Stiva's like nobody's business. Before long, we were at the casket and Hal and Vince subtly flanked Harmon.

"Now ain't this a gyp?" Grandma asked, loudly. "They should know better than to have a closed casket."

I crossed my fingers and prayed as her hands stole toward the coffin lid. This never, ever ended well.

It all happened so fast, I never got a chance to stop her. Grandma got the lid open a few inches, but the casket began to tilt to one side. Everyone gasped as it slid to the ground in slow motion. Harmon went down in the confusion, and it didn't take much acting on my part to cover for Hal and Vince.

"Oh my god!" I screeched. "He needs some air!" Being the nice guys they were, Hal and Vince offered to carry Harmon outside. I grabbed grandma before Constantine Stiva could make his way to us and we all met up outside.

Les, Zip and Vince took over securing Harmon in the back of the Explorer. It went like clockwork, and they were pulling out of the parking lot before anyone could even miss Harmon.

Hal and Grandma were over by the Escalade, so I joined them. She held up a slim black box that Hal had just given her. "Ain't this something! You mean you just pressed this little button and it was lights out?" Hal squeaked, and his eyes rolled back in his head as he crumpled to the ground.

"Explain." Ranger ordered as he made his way over to us.

"Grandma stunned Hal… I think." I bit my lip and tried to look anywhere but at Ranger. Grandma was looking a little stunned herself, so I gingerly removed the stun gun from her grasp. "Look on the bright side – you got your guy, and if we hurry, we'll make it back to relieve Ella before Julie's bedtime."

Ranger just shook his head. "Pathetic."

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

We'd dropped grandma off and we were headed back to Haywood before I finally worked up the guts to talk to Ranger. I glanced over my shoulder to where Hal was slumped over in the backseat. "Should he be moaning like that?"

"He's fine. I should've left him on the ground."

"But it's like, seven miles back to RangeMan!"

Ranger's lips quirked slightly. "It would've served him right." He grunted. "The man survived three tours only to get done in by a seventy year old woman. Pathetic."

I giggled. "Well, grandma is kind of a special case."

We'd pulled into the garage by then, so he turned toward me, his expression solemn. "Babe, you come from a long line of scary women."

"What?" I sputtered. "We're not… I mean." I thought for a second. We probably were that bad. "It's all that gypsy blood. This kind of thing's genetic," I defended. When his shoulders started to shake, I'd had enough. "Laugh all you want, Mister Mañoso, but remember that you've entrusted your only child to me!"

"I know, and it keeps me awake at night." Ranger captured my lips in a fast, hard kiss. Before I could react, he was out of the SUV and headed toward the stairs. "Watch Hal for a minute and I'll send someone down for him."

I could only stare after his retreating back. What in the hell had just happened?

* * *

AN: No Plum story is complete without Grandma at a viewing, and AU or not, Hal was getting stunned - It was practically fated.

A shout out to: Ampk; Ashi-Grey, got2Bababefan, First Generation Scot, lundyred jules3677, 34165, Stephanie1014, deviates322, Barb4psu, babefangirl, Ybanormlmom, carrotmusic; Babe993, alix33, shanit, Margaret aka whymelucylu, Elkniw73, Lilygreen, ThinkAboutItBabe, frostdance, daffydbuck, shellbell8, Fanfictionstalker, bgrgrmpy, Angela Mueller, bkc04, jaxg, DebK, erdi99, Selene Aduial, av981638, and guest reviewers. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	9. Chapter 7

**AN: I've just started putting outtakes and chapter snippets from Ranger's POV in a new story called Secret Agent Nanny Outtakes. I have Ranger's POV to this chapter up there now.**

**AN: mija – daughter (informal), nieta – granddaughter. Abuela/o – grandmother/grandfather; querida – dear, empañadas – turnovers stuffed with meat or other things; Tres leches – cake soaked in evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream; papas rellenas – fried potatoes stuffed with a meat mixture.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Meet the Mañosos

* * *

Stephanie's POV

I could focus only on one thought the day after Grandma and I helped Ranger capture Harmon Rudnick at Stiva's. _Ranger kissed me._

It ran through my mind like a mantra. When I was braiding Julie's hair before dropping her off at Science day camp: _Ranger kissed me._ Later, when I met Mary Lou for lunch: _Ranger kissed me._ And, it was on my mind when I was getting Julie ready for dinner at my parents', especially since the man himself was accompanying us. _Ranger kissed me, and what the hell did he mean by it?_

To say that it was awkward meeting him on the fifth floor for the drive over was an understatement. Thank God for Julie.

"Ranger, we're going to the Plums'! Ms. Helen makes the best lasagna!" Julie squealed as she bounded into his office.

Ranger ruffled her hair. "I know, _mija_. I've been told she made it just for you." He nodded to me. "Steph."

We both followed Julie to the elevator, and as we rode down to the garage, it was both awkward and….not. There was a current of awareness arcing between us that hadn't been there before, but Julie kept up a constant stream of chatter so that I could ignore it as we loaded into the Jeep for the ride over. Ranger wanted to drive, and I was distracted enough to let him.

"Remember to watch out for Grandma," I told him, speaking softly as Julie watched a video in the back seat. She had headphones on, so I didn't know why I bothered to pitch my voice low. "She may look old and harmless but she can sneak up on you if you let her."

His lips twisted in a devilish grin, one that made my heart rate kick up a notch. "I heard. Don't worry, there's only one woman in your family I'd want grabbing me, and it's not her."

Oh. My. God. Was he flirting? I looked back over at Ranger, and decided that, yes, he was. I felt something loosen inside of me. He was probably just as big of a flirt as his cousin, and he probably meant no more by it than Lester did. I sighed with relief and relaxed back into the Jeep's leather seat; I could handle a little harmless flirting.

We arrived at my parents' just before six PM and Ranger handed over the wine we'd brought with us. The man can't carry on a proper phone conversation, but his manners are otherwise impeccable.

"Oh, how did you know this was my favorite?" My mom gushed when she met us at the door. I almost rolled my eyes. How did she think he knew? I'd told him when he asked.

Dinner was mostly pleasant. The lasagna was extra cheesy, the garlic bread was extra buttery and Mom had made an enormous green salad for Ranger and Julie. Grandma kept the conversation lively with a recap of the night before.

"And then that Hal fella stunned Marjory Rudnick's boy and he went down like a load of bricks!" She exclaimed, as she gestured with her glass of wine. Since I was on Grandma's right that night, I had to duck to avoid getting sloshed.

"Oh, for Heaven's sake." My mom crossed herself and took a deep gulp of her wine. "Gallivanting around Stiva's like that, and upending Thelma Wolinski's casket, may she rest in peace." She pinned me with a glare. "I've come to expect things like this from Mother, but you should know better, Stephanie!"

I felt my cheeks heat. "The thing with the coffin was an accident, Ma. I called Stiva's and apologized this morning. And the rest…"

"Stephanie and Mrs. Mazur helped us apprehend a dangerous fugitive last night, Mrs. Plum, one we couldn't have found without their help." Ranger interjected smoothly, as his lips lifted in a tiny grin. "Maybe it didn't go as efficiently as it could have, but I'm sure you and your friends will rest easier knowing he's off the street."

"That's what RangeMan does, Mrs. Helen," Julie piped up. "They put the bad guys in jail."

Mom cooed at Julie in agreement and I could only shake my head in wonder. I leaned across the table slightly. "Are you sure you're not a politician or something?" I asked Ranger, quietly. No one had ever headed my mom off like that.

Mom asked Julie about her day camp, and she began to describe her recent trip to the planetarium in hilarious detail. I was a little surprised when my dad joined in, but then I'd forgotten how he used to take us star gazing at the beach when we were kids.

"And then there were all these stars on the ceiling– I bet ET's home was up there, Mr. Frank," she said as she bounced in her chair.

Ranger and I shared a grin. I was almost certain Julie knew ET was a movie character, but she sure was cute.

However, I should've known that Mom wasn't through with me – she was just waiting for Julie to be out of earshot.

"You're so good with Julie, you should think about having a child of your own, soon," she said as she passed me another plate to dry.

I had to suppress a sigh. Dad, Julie and Ranger were watching the Yankees' game and Grandma had already left for Bingo. I was alone in the kitchen with my mom, without backup. "I'm really busy with Julie right now, Ma."

She continued as if she hadn't heard me. "And you're not even dating anyone! Honestly Stephanie, it's been long enough after your divorce from Richard. You have to put yourself out there!"

I grabbed another plate and started to recite my lines from rote. "Someday, Ma. I just haven't met the right guy, yet." And I probably wouldn't. Like I'd told Ranger the day before, I was off men. Maybe permanently.

"Well, you'll never meet the right one if you don't try. Honestly, there are so many nice boys, right here in the Burg. I could have some of them over to dinner…."

"Ma!" I whined. "Why are you suddenly so interested in me dating, all of the sudden? Next thing I know, you'll set me up with…." I cast around for a name. "Joe Morelli!"

"Those Morelli boys are too wild," she scoffed. She stopped scrubbing the lasagna pan for a minute. "Though I did hear that Bernie Kuntz was single," she said, thoughtfully.

No! "I don't think so, Ma." I took a deep breath. "Why are you so concerned about whether or not I'm dating, or married?" I repeated.

"I just want you happy and settled, Stephanie." She huffed out a breath. "Don't get me wrong, I like Julie, but I'm afraid you're getting too attached. What will happen when she has a new mother and doesn't need you anymore?"

It was like a weight was crushing my chest; all my breath left me suddenly. "What?" I wheezed. "What do you mean?"

Mom looked at me, pityingly. "A man like that isn't going to be alone for long. I mean look at him. He'll find a new wife, sooner or later." She patted my shoulder, consolingly. "I know that you love Julie, and that she loves you, but she needs a real mother, not a nanny. And you should be doing something more worthwhile than babysitting someone else's child for money." She sighed. "I saw the way you were looking at him tonight, so I just hope you don't get hurt."

I stood there, gape-mouthed for several moments, not sure how to process what she'd just said, or how to respond. I wanted Julie to be happy, and put that way, maybe she did need a mother. But I wasn't ready to think past next week, much less about a day that was, hopefully, far, far in the future.

Julie burst into the kitchen, saving me from having to reply to my mother. "Steph! If we leave now, Ranger says we can all play a round of Wii before bedtime." She tugged at my hand, insistently. "I have to beat him at MarioParty!"

I laughed and tugged at one of her braids in return. "I'll follow you out in a second. Tell your dad that it's 'game on'!"

I hung up my dish towel and waved goodbye to my mother. Luckily she didn't have any more to say to me.

Back at home, Julie beat us both soundly at MarioParty. I'm just glad we weren't playing for money or anything, or she would've cleaned me out. It was a good ending to maybe not the best of days, and then, Julie did something that surprised the heck out of me.

As I was tucking her into bed, she sat up, and hugged me, tightly. "You're my best friend, Steph, and I'm glad you're taking care of me!"

I was so startled, and choked up, I couldn't do anything but hug her back before slipping out the connecting door to my apartment. Could she or Ranger have possibly heard my mother in the kitchen? I hoped not.

There was a knock at the door, and it was Ranger, with a bottle of wine and a bar of chocolate from Ella's seemingly never-ending supply. As I let him in, I suddenly knew. He'd heard.

My shoulders slumped in defeat, I fetched a couple of glasses from the kitchen and led the way into the living room. After a moment's hesitation, he joined me on the couch. He didn't invade my space, but he didn't sit on the opposite end from me, either.

"I'm sorry that she talked about you and Julie like that, in the kitchen. She's not usually that blunt." I sighed as I took a bite of the chocolate he'd handed me. "This is just what I needed."

His face split in a brief, blinding grin. "You and Julie have done a good job of training me. I'm almost house-broken."

"As if," I snorted. "You are many things, Ranger Mañoso, but you are not a lap dog."

His eyes grew hot and dark. "Then what am I?" He asked.

Holy cow, but this man was lethal. Each low pitched word sent a shaft of desire straight through me. _He was the hottest man I'd ever met, that's what he was._

If anything, his eyes grew even more heated. "Babe."

I groaned and put a little more distance between us. "I said that aloud, didn't I?" I held out my hand. "I'm going to need wine for this conversation." I took a deep, fortifying sip from the glass he handed me. "What you are, is my boss."

"I'm extremely aware of that fact," he said, his eyes locked with laser beam focus on me. Did I have something on my face?

I continued. "Which means, that thing we did last night," meaning that scorching hot kiss that I could still feel, even now, "probably wasn't the best idea."

All heat fled his face, and what I'd started calling his blank face slammed into place. "Maybe not."

I sighed again. "I'm Julie's nanny, you're her father, but I'd like to think that you're my friend, too." When his lips quirked into a tiny grin, I continued. "So, nothing really needs to change, does it? I take care of Julie, and we're friends?"

"Friends." He nodded once and stood. "I'll be at the Miami office for the next couple of days, so is there anything else we need to talk about?"

"Well, there are a couple of things I need to run by you," I began.

He sat back down, and groaned. "Every time you say that, I end up doing something I really don't want to do, like watching Julie hurtle down a skateboard ramp or scouring Trenton for a 'Hello Kitty' backpack."

I giggled. "Parenting requires sacrifices." I reached for a stack of printouts and a notepad I'd scribbled on earlier. "Like birthday party planning."

"I don't do birthday parties."

I patted his hand in mock sympathy. "It's only one day a year, and this year, it's the second Sunday in August. Look, I talked to Julie and we thought we'd keep it simple. We could just have a slumber party here…"

"No." No explanations, just no. I'd expected as much.

I rolled my eyes. "That's what Tank said, too. Secured building, no visitors, yadda, yadda, yadda." I passed a brochure to him. "Which brings me to plan B - the Bounce U over in West Windsor. We let the kids jump around like maniacs for a while, and then feed them cake and send them on their way."

"A bounce house." He said it like I'd say toenail fungus.

"Yep. Since her birthday is less than a month away, their calendar was already booked full, but the manager dated my sister in high school." I slid a page of figures toward him. "He'll open the place up early for us, for an extra couple of hundred bucks, and my tipping him off that Lisa Martinelli will probably be single soon, on account of her husband knocking up a stripper."

Ranger looked over the estimates I'd gotten from Jimmy, the manager. "If I say yes, we won't have to talk about this anymore, right?"

I nodded. "Jimmy and I will take care of everything."

"Fine. Give Tank the guest list…"

"And the venue's address and layout, so he can check everything out," I finished for him. I snapped him a jaunty salute. "Yes, Sir."

"Smart ass." He handed the papers back to me. "Anything else?"

"Just one other thing." I really didn't want to have this conversation, but I owed it to Julie. I chewed on my lip for a minute, mulling it over, before deciding to just go for it. "Julie's spent so much time with my grandmother, she's started to wonder why she doesn't visit hers," I said in a rush. There I'd said it. Julie deserved to know her grandparents, but it was his decision.

Lester had told me that Rachel's parents were dead, and that Ranger's lived in Newark, but he hadn't offered any more details, and I hadn't asked.

He closed his eyes, as if in pain. "Let me see that birthday party brochure, again."

I had to laugh at that. "Now who's the wise ass?" I carried our wine glasses into the kitchen to give him a little space. "I don't pretend to know what the story is, though your family can't possibly be as crazy as mine."

He shook his head. "Don't count on it." He brought the half-full bottle of wine to me. "They're Cuban, loud, and there are a lot of them."

"Still sounds better than Hungarian - Italian, and a few sandwiches short of a picnic." I shrugged. "I just wanted to tell you that Julie's curious about her grandparents. It's up to you to decide if Sunday dinner at Chez Mañoso is in order." My lips quirked in a wry grin. "After tonight, I'm tempted to offer to trade parents with you."

Ranger stepped around the kitchen island and stalked toward me until barely a foot separated us. "I'll think about it. You got anything else you want to talk about?"

Oh mercy. I shook my head.

"Then I have a couple of things to say to you, Steph," he said, his voice velvety soft. "One, your mother is wrong. You're not easily replaced, and I don't foresee a time when Julie won't need you."

Oh. As embarrassing as it was to know he'd heard my mom, I guess I'd needed to hear that. Maybe he'd remarry one day, but maybe I'd still have a place in her life.

He moved in a little closer, and I shivered as his warm breath caressed my cheek, my neck. "Two, keeping things professional between us might be wise, but I don't always do the smart thing where you're concerned. We'll be friends, if that's what you want, Babe, but expect me to push the boundaries any chance I get."

He left and I had to grab the counter as my knees gave out. I found myself wondering, for the second time in twenty-four hours, _what in the hell had just happened_?

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

A little over a week later, I found myself headed toward Newark with Ranger and Julie. My boss is the most infuriatingly close-mouthed man I've ever met, but he doesn't play around. I'd joked about him and Julie having Sunday dinner at Chez Mañoso, but when he hadn't said anything else about it, I'd decided it was a lost cause. I figured that I'd try again in a few months.

Imagine my surprise when he'd stopped by my apartment the night before and asked, no, _ordered_ me to accompany him and Julie to lunch at his parents'. His reasoning was that since it was my idea, I could damn well be his back-up. I was more than a little curious to meet Batman's family, so I'd agreed.

It sure beat the prospect spending Sunday with my parents. Mom and I would start speaking again, sooner or later, but I was feeling a little stubborn.

Ranger had been uncharacteristically talkative as we drove along, pointing out sights and telling Julie about his family, so I felt a little let down when we pulled into the driveway of a neat, but ordinary two-story house. Well, it served me right for expecting Wayne Manor.

"This is Newarks' version of the Burg," he told both of us. "The neighborhood's mostly Hispanic, but it's been in transition the last few years."

Ranger had warned me that he and his family didn't always get along, so I wasn't expecting the welcome we got. We were met at the door by an older couple. His mother was still beautiful, and from looking at his dad, I had a pretty good idea of what Ranger would look like in about thirty years. As creepy as it sounds, his dad was pretty hot for an older guy.

"Carlos! You came!" His mother rushed forward and enfolded him in a tight hug. After a few moments, she pulled away, smacked him in the back of the head, rattled off something in Spanish, and then hugged him again.

Ranger's dad chuckled. "You'll have to forgive Marisol, she's always a little emotional when her chicks come back to the roost."

"It's completely understandable," I said as I introduced myself. I discreetly tugged Julie forward. "And this is…."

"Julie! I'd know you anywhere, _nieta." _Ranger's father knelt down beside her. "It is so good to see you."

"_It's nice to meet you, grandfather," _Julie said in Spanish, just like she and Ranger had practiced on the way here.

"You speak Spanish!" He crowed, as his face split into a blinding, two-hundred watt grin. He stood and grabbed Julie up in a bear hug, swinging her around in circles until she giggled. When he set her on her feet again, she had an identical grin on her face. Good lord, that smile was genetic, and almost as devastating as Ranger's. "No need to be so formal, _mija_. You can call me Papa."

He turned toward Ranger's mother. "You hear that, woman? My granddaughter speaks Spanish."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course she does, Ernesto. Did you expect her to be less than brilliant?" She rushed forward and swept Julie into another hug. "Oh, you're so pretty. Come talk to me, mija, and tell me all about yourself."

I turned toward Ranger as they headed into the house, speaking back and forth in Spanish as they went. "Yep, that sure was awkward. I really hope that she warms up to Julie," I mock whispered.

Ranger shot me a sour look. "Anyone tell you that you're a smart ass?

Ernesto chuckled, reminding me that we weren't alone. "I like this one. She'll keep you on your toes," he said as he drew Ranger into one of those back-slapping man hugs. He held out his arm to me. "Come in, _querida_, and let me fix you both a drink."

Lunch at the Mañosos wasn't quite like I'd expected. For one thing, there was a lot of laughter, but it wasn't nearly as noisy as I'd expected.

When I told Ranger as much, he just shook his head. "Just wait 'til Christmas. There'll be a dozen kids and twice as many adults. It gets _loud._

I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about his casual assumption that I'd be here with him and Julie for the holidays. It was scary. It was nice, too, but mostly scary.

But one thing I was absolutely sure about – the food was amazing. There were mounds of beans and rice and platter after platter of these little empañada things. And if there ever was a dessert that could rival my mom's pineapple upside-down cake, it was Marisol's tres leches cake.

"Oh God, where has this been all my life," I moaned as I took another bite. I wanted to marry this cake. However, Marisol and Ernesto's chuckles reminded me that the cake and I weren't alone. I felt my cheeks heat. "Uh, sorry." I looked over into Julie's laughing eyes. "You're supposed to tell me when I do that!"

"Nonsense, querida," Marisol said as she cut me another slice. "I love it when people enjoy my food." She motioned toward Ranger. "This one – he doesn't like sweets, and always it has to be healthy." She shook her head. "What good Cuban doesn't like papas rellenas?"

"I know, he won't eat real pizza, either" I said mournfully. "Hey, what are those papas rellenas things?" I asked, stumbling over the words. "They sound like they'd be good."

Everyone else laughed, but Ranger just shook his head. "Do you see what I have to deal with? No respect."

It wasn't until I was helping Marisol clear the table that I caught a hint of the disapproval Ranger had warned me about. "I worry about that boy, so much. He's so closed off. First he gives up that precious _nieta_ of ours, and then he won't come home. He barely calls! So strange!" She fussed.

OK, this was a little awkward. "I haven't known him or Julie, long, but you wouldn't believe how good he is with her," I said, choosing my words carefully. "Sometimes I wish my parents had been half as patient with me." Yes, I'd thought that Ranger was cold, too, when we'd first met. But he'd never been less than patient with Julie and I knew now that he loved Julie. He'd just been clueless.

"It's because of you, you make him human," she told me as she slid several pieces of that heavenly cake into a Tupperware container.

"No!" I looked away, embarrassed. "I haven't done anything except maybe completely upset his household." And his schedule, and lately, his office.

"Exactly!" She said, smugly. "You make both him and Julie laugh and remind them to play, and for that, you will always have as much of my tres leches cake as you want."

"It's really not that big a deal," I protested. Though I wouldn't say no to her cooking.

"Oh really?" She asked, knowingly. "And you're telling me my son would ever go to Dave and Busters on his own?"

Well she had a point there. It had taken a lost bet and a lot of begging, but he'd mostly been a good sport. Thanks to him, Julie had walked away with the biggest stuffed dog I'd ever seen.

I huffed out a breath in exasperation. "Lester has a big mouth."

She just laughed and slid another plate of empañadas my way. "That one has loose lips, but my real spy is Ella. We went to school together."

* * *

AN: I really don't think I can write Ranger at Dave and Busters (the mind simply boggles), so please, please don't ask. What would he do? Rent the whole place out, post a Merry Man at every door and have two of them follow Julie around the games to scare off any shady characters? I am planning to write about Julies' B-day party at the Bounce place, though.

A shout out to: KbellaManoso, erdi99, deviates322, jkgk, rangerreader, bgrgrmpy, Stephanie 1014, IrishHoney highlands girl, mjsmama, Sdesimone, Barb4psu, Anonymous, Lilygreen, Lulu belle 09, First Generation Scot, caregiver, Daffybduck, katannc, RhoJ, KLpuppies21, shellbell78, trhodes9, margaret aka whymelucylu; snazzieshazzie, Ashi-Grey, Fanfictionstalker, YbanormImom, alix33, and guest reviewers. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	10. Chapter 7 outtake

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

Thanks for all of the reviews!

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Chapter 7.5: The friend zone? WTF?!

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Ranger's POV

I pushed aside the stack of quarterly reports I was supposed to be reviewing when I realized that I'd read the same page twice. I had a business to run, but I just couldn't get a certain curly-haired Jersey girl out of my head. I'd broken down and kissed Steph last night.

Maybe I had been dropped on my head when I was a baby, because kissing my employee was the last thing I should be doing. _But I could still taste her, and I knew I wanted more._

I checked my watch – 1635 – I had less than an hour before we had to leave for dinner at Babe's parents' house. I'd heard stories, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to spending an evening eating artery-clogging food and avoiding Edna Mazur's advances. However, Julie and Steph spent a significant amount of time with the Plums, so it was past time to meet them.

The reports were a lost cause, so I pulled out the file on my current pet project. So that Morelli _pendejo _thought it was funny to seduce Steph on the filthy floor of a donut shop and then humiliate her, not once, but twice? Add in the fact that he'd dared to speak to _mija_, he was lucky that I wasn't arranging his transport to one of the 'Stans.

Morelli was already on thin ice after his recent murder charge and time spent as a fugitive. Sure, he'd been cleared of the charges, but a couple of words in the right ears, and internal affairs had been only too happy to start a review of all of his cases for the last three years. He'd be lucky to pull traffic duty after this.

The IA investigation still didn't feel like enough, but Tank, Santos and I hadn't been able to think of a more fitting punishment. Except…. I felt a rush of almost feral satisfaction as it came to me. The man was by all accounts a womanizer, and a sexual predator, so I wondered how he'd feel if the tables were turned?

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

A couple of hours later, my feelings toward Stephanie Plum were even more confused than usual. I was used to being alternately turned on and amused in her presence, but with the exception of the Morelli situation, I wasn't accustomed to the sheer need to protect that was surging through me as I listened to Helen Plum tear down her daughter.

I'd never felt the urge to protect any woman who wasn't related to me before, but how dare that woman tell my Babe she was nothing but an easily discarded employee? I'd sworn off marriage a long time ago, and my life style didn't lend itself to relationships, so as far I was concerned Steph was the only mother figure Julie was going to get. Luckily for all of us, she was brilliant at it.

I felt a tug on my pants leg, and looked down at Julie. _Shit,_ she'd followed me when I'd gone to check on Steph, and from the pissed-off expression on her face, she'd heard every bit of poison that woman had just spouted.

I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Why don't you ask Stephanie if it's time to go? Didn't you want to play with the Wii before bed?"

As I watched Julie bound into the kitchen, it occurred to me that I'd just agreed to play a children's video game. But if it made either of them smile, I guess I could take one for the team.

After an hour spent playing MarioParty that I would never get back, I found myself rummaging around in Ella's main pantry for supplies. Julie's antics had worked wonders, and I was hoping a glass of wine and some of the chocolate stash that no one thought I knew about would wipe the rest of that haunted look from Steph's face.

Her sweet moans as she bit into the candy bar went straight to my cock, as usual, and I can't say that I didn't enjoy her banter. But I was so fixated on that tiny smear of chocolate that clung to her lower lip that I almost missed her next words.

The fuck? She was trying to put me in the friend zone? I had to admit that Babe had a point – she was an employee and not a playmate. Not that I would ever go there, exactly – because Stephanie Plum is many things, but she's not a piece of ass. But on the other hand, I knew I would go crazy if I couldn't touch or taste her, sometimes. I was raised to be a good man, but I had my limits.

The fact that I was still reeling from her 'let's be friends' speech was the only explanation for why I let her talk me into having Julie's birthday party at something called 'Bounce U.' I just knew that she'd bat those baby blues at me and I'd find myself bouncing around in a fucking inflatable house with a party hat stuck on my head. My enemies would laugh in my face if it got out.

At least I had the presence of mind to say no to the slumber party. There's one thing I remember from growing up with my sisters – if you put young girls in a room together, they _squeal_. No man should have to listen to that in his own home.

And then she bit that fucking lip again, so I found myself agreeing to consider taking Julie to visit _mi familia_. I love my family, and I even like most of them, in theory, but they have never understood or accepted my life choices.

While I've never regretted my decision to join the Army, two wars and God knows how many covert missions have put a lot more than sixty miles of distance between me and them. A family dinner might as well be conducted in Swahili, for all that we understand each other.

And, like I said, I was raised to be a good man, so I'd married Rachel to give Julie my name. My mother and _abuelas _had approved, but they still don't understand why we didn't stay married, or why I gave Julie up. A burden I'll always have to bear is that if not for a crappy twist of fate, Rachel and another man would still be raising my daughter. I've heard that Mama is happy that I stepped up, but she will never understand that the real tragedy is that Ron and Rachel were the ones that deserved to raise Julie, and they won't get to.

But, I remember how much I'd loved visiting _mis abuelas_ when I was Julie's age, so I would be a real ass to deny her that. Thankfully, Steph refrained from pointing that little fact out to me, though I could tell she wanted to.

Since I still had those reports to go over, I got up to leave. But considering that Stephanie Plum had managed to tie me up in knots in less than fifteen minutes, I had to get a little of my own back.

So, I moved in on her until I could just feel her curls brush against my cheek. "Then I have a couple of things to say to you, Steph," I said, pitching my voice low in that way that always made her eyes darken with lust. It was a dirty trick, but you know what they say about giving information to the enemy.

"One, your mother is wrong. You're not easily replaced, and I don't foresee a time when Julie won't need you." A faint blush spread over her cheeks, and she smiled slightly as she realized that my words were sincere.

I almost stopped there, but Steph was absolutely right. I was no lap dog. "Two, keeping things professional between us might be wise, but I don't always do the smart thing where you're concerned. We'll be friends, if that's what you want, Babe, but expect me to push the boundaries any chance I get."

I had to hide a grin as I heard her fight to stay upright as I left her apartment. Game on, Babe. _Game on_.


	11. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: Sorry for the delay in posting. Flirty Ranger was harder to write than I thought he would be. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. I read each one and they mean a lot to me.**

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Chapter 8: Pushing the boundaries

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Ranger's POV

As the team Tank and I had hand-picked filed into conference room one, I wondered again at the strange twists and turns life could take. A couple of years ago, I would have been leading a pre-mission briefing, and yesterday, I'd sat in on the planning session for the takedown of a dangerous fugitive. Today…

"I cannot stress enough the importance of this Op," I began as I walked to the front of the room. "If one of you looks the least bit hung over, or I catch anyone taking this less than seriously, I won't leave enough for Brown to sew up." When they all nodded, I motioned for Tank to pull up the power point presentation.

"You will report to the Bounce U in West Windsor at 0930 hours, Sunday. Civilian clothes." I brought up the building plans, and studied each of my men's faces. _Yes, gentlemen, we are discussing the security arrangements for a children's birthday party_. Luckily for them, not a one of them was cracking a smile, and Hal and Woody had started to take notes.

I pointed toward the parking lots at the side and back of the building. "Teams will be positioned here, and here, to watch the parking areas and building exterior: Ram and Bones, and Cal and Tank. Tank will be in charge of outside security."

"Thank God," Tank muttered.

I sent him a quelling look and continued. "Woody, you will coordinate with the manager, Jimmy Wentz, and his staff. Benny, you have the front door and Hal, you have the back." I paused to bring up the detail of the inside spaces. Zip and Zero will have the party room, since they provide security detail for Julie most often." I nodded toward the last members of the team, in turn. "Slick will circulate inside, and Binkie and Santos will secure the bounce area, with Santos inside."

Lester pumped his fist. "Yes!"

"You'll be there to work, not fuck around," I growled at him. I really hoped I wouldn't regret the duty assignments. "Guests will start to arrive at 1000 hours. The folder in front of you has the names and photos of party guests and their parents. All have been vetted." We'd had to strike one of Julie's science camp classmates off the invite list because of his father's involvement with the Grizzoli crime family, but Julie hadn't been too bothered by it. The little shit liked to spit in her projects.

I brought up the next slide. "Parents will be dropping off and picking up the kids, but only these three are likely to remain," I continued, pointing to head shots of Steph's friend Mary Lou Stankovic, Loretta Scarzolli, and Lisa Martinelli, who, apparently was being set up with Jimmy the manager. I clicked over to the party schedule and wished like hell for a coup or good old-fashioned ex-fil operation, like in the old days.

"Is everything clear?" I asked as I wound up the meeting.

"HUA!"

"Dismissed." After I finished the briefing, the men filed out, leaving me and Tank behind.

"Hell of a thing, ain't it Rangeman?" He nodded toward the blow up the party schedule I'd left on the screen.

"Yeah, but it beats getting shot at."

Tank shook his head. "Don't know about you, but I kind of miss those days."

"Yeah." Maybe, I did, too, but if things were different, I wouldn't get to see Julie's excited little face tomorrow, or Steph eating birthday cake. I double checked the schedule. Affirmative on the cake; Steph had ignored the dietary guidelines again.

Tank must've read my mind, because he grinned and clapped me on the back. "Tell Steph she'd better save me some of that cake and tell Julie I'll stop by with her birthday present after my shift."

Tank left me in the conference room, wondering what my life would be like without Julie and a certain Jersey girl.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

My life would be a lot quieter, I concluded as I stood at the door of what Babe was calling 'bounce room' the next morning. It was 1030 hours, and everything had gone smoothly so far. The venue staff had mostly cooperated with my men and all guests and parents were accounted for. Which meant that eighteen children between the ages of four and nine were crawling through multi-colored inflatable tunnels and bouncing around in the giant red and purple inflatable castle in the center of the room. And each and every one of them had their volume control stuck on 'way too damn loud.'

I caught a flash of blue and yellow out of the corner of my eye and turned toward the culprit. Santos had worn that ugly ass Hawaiian shirt again, and he was….

"Santos!" I strode over and grabbed him by the arm as he prepared to slam dunk a toy basketball. "You're not here to play," I hissed.

He hopped off the ramp and threw down the Nerf ball. "You know, you're no fun," he pouted. "I ought to ask Brown to remove that stick from your -"

"Santos," I growled. "I can't believe we're related." I was just about to send him outside when a ridiculously perky voice broke in.

"Hey, someone didn't put their party face on!"

I turned, and had to stifle a groan. The birthday package had come with the services of a college-aged 'party professional'. According to the brochure, she was supposed to ensure safety and make sure the kids had fun. So far, all she'd done was try to make me wear a party hat and strap on some huge, inflatable boxing gloves

"Look…." I searched my memory for her name.

"Meghan," she helpfully supplied. "I'm really concerned that you're going to ruin Julie's party experience if you don't start joining in," she chirped.

And I was really concerned that she'd fallen on her head at some point because I'd seen her give Lester her number earlier. "No. Don't you have other people to bother, uh help?"

Her perky little face crumpled and I wondered for the tenth time what I'd ever done to deserve being dropped into birthday party Hell. I accept that I'm in line for karmic justice, but it wasn't like I'd burned down an orphanage.

'Mr. Mañoso –" Dammit, if she was going to cry…

"I've got this, Meghan. Why don't you show Lester the climbing web?" Stephanie hooked her arm through mine and drew me toward one of the smaller enclosures. "What did I tell you about scaring the staff," she teased.

I crossed my arms. "Babe, no twelve year-old is going to guilt trip me into bouncing around like an idiot."

She rolled her eyes. "That's Lester's job, and Meghan's at least twenty, I hope," she said as she glanced over to where Santos was putting the moves on the party director. "Look, please lose the scary face and look over at your daughter."

"Steph-' She cut me off with a glare, so I looked. Julie was bouncing around in a circle with the oldest Stankovic kid and three of her classmates. She was giggling wildly, and her arms were covered with temporary tattoos. The fact that I knew that some of them were Hello Kitty designs was mildly disturbing, but I had to admit that she was pretty damn….

"Pretty freakin' cute, right?" Steph said, echoing my thoughts. "Look, if you can make it through another half hour of this, Meghan will herd them out of here and we'll throw some pizza at them. I ordered you a salad," she sang.

I'd seen Babe's idea of a salad before, but it was the thought that counts. Just then, Julie bounced over to us and launched herself into my arms through the opening.

"Ranger – this is the best birthday ever! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

For the record, I did not jump or bounce, but I might have helped Julie turn flips.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

Stephanie's POV

"Wow, she is done for," I commented as I pulled off Julie's shoes and socks. She sure was cute, sleeping cradled against Ranger's shoulder like that.

Julie had dropped off, dead to the world, in the Jeep on the way home from the bounce place and she'd barely stirred as Ranger carried up to her room.

Ranger carefully set her on her bed and I covered her up with a throw from the foot of the bed. "Give her an hour," he said quietly as we made our way out to the hallway outside her room.

I smiled. "Maybe, but it's a good thing she had the family party last night, because I think this girl is all birthday-ed out." Rather than stuff everyone into the Bounce U, Marisol had organized a party so Julie could meet her Mañoso relatives.

He shook his head, mournfully. "I know _I_ am. She's not having another birthday for a while, right?"

I lightly socked him in the shoulder. "Quit yer bellyaching." We stood there in the doorway, silently watching her sleep for several moments. "Though, I will admit you were right about your family."

"Babe, I'm always right." I went to whap him one again, but he slipped behind me and began to lightly massage my shoulders.

"Smart-ass." I bit off a groan as his fingers teased along the nape of my neck. _Good God, the man had magic hands_, I thought as his touch sent bolts of sensation straight to my doo-dah. "What do you think you're doing?" I asked as I attempted to glare at him over my shoulder.

"Just being friendly, Babe." His face was the picture of innocence, and while he didn't stop, the massage morphed into something a bit more business-like and less likely to send me up in flames. "So what was I right about?"

"OK, you can keep that up, but I'm watching you, Mister." I sighed as his thumbs dug into a knot at the base of my neck. He'd certainly been living up to his promise to push the boundaries of our friendship. At first it had been the occasional look or seemingly accidental touch, but lately he'd felt the need to occupy my airspace every chance he got. I was pretty sure neither I nor my shower massager would survive much more of this.

"There were about a million Mañosos running around, and they were loud with a capital L." Well, it'd only been the three of Ranger's sisters that still lived in New Jersey, their families, and assorted aunts and uncles, but his parents' house had seemed to be bursting at the seams. "But I did really like Celia, Maria, and Yvette, _Ricky." _Yes, his sisters called Ranger the Badass _little Ricky_ – and they'd shown me and Julie his baby pictures. He'd been adorable.

"You're playing with fire," he breathed into my ear a second before he swatted me lightly on my bottom. "That's definitely not a name I want to hear from your lips."

"Yow!" I shrieked as I leapt back from him. "OK – that definitely wasn't friendly," I said with a mock glare. "What should I call you, then? Sir or Master?"

His eyes went hot and dark. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking of, but I like how you think." His grin turned wolfish. "If you ever want to play that way, Babe, you know where to find me."

I'd like to say that I had a really sassy comeback to that, but I was really too busy trying not to die of embarrassment for that. All I could think, as I retreated to my apartment, was that I would get the best of him if it was the last thing I ever did. _It's on, Batman._

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

I was still trying to figure out Ranger's game, so I could beat him at it, of course, as I did a little work the next day on the fifth floor.

"If you're José, you've got a lot of explaining to do," came a voice from the office doorway.

I looked up, and decided that I was dealing with amused Ranger that day. He was a rare creature, and just slightly less of a threat to my self-control than Armani suit Ranger, or turned on Ranger.

"Nope, no sex change here," I said lightly. "I told Tank I'd help out in the office this week." José Herrera, the office manager, was at Disney World with his wife and four kids. Since a day on the boardwalk at Point Pleasant with Julie had almost wiped me out, I figured I had the better deal.

He studied me silently for several seconds. "I'm a real bastard to say this, but I'm glad Santos put you on the wrong interview list." he said softly. "I have a feeling you would've been a hell of an office manager."

"Don't sweat it," I said, waving away his concerns. "Julie's a lot more fun than doing payroll." And my business degree hadn't ever hugged me back, so I wasn't going to sweat it.

His lips twitched slightly. "Glad to know it, Babe."

I ducked my head to hide my flushed cheeks. He'd been calling me that a lot, lately. It wasn't very professional, but I and my hormones kind of liked it. "Hey, you could make yourself useful and sign off on the schedule while you're here," I told him as I motioned to the guest chair.

But I should've known that Ranger would prefer to stand over my shoulder, close enough for his breath to fan my cheek and his scent to fill my senses. I looked up at him sharply as he pushed a curl behind my ear for the fourth time. "Do you mind? You sure you don't want to sit on my lap?" I asked, sarcastically.

His lips spread into a full, two hundred watt grin, and before I knew it, he'd plucked me out of my chair and sat with me in his lap. "Great idea, Babe, but I think this will work better."

Holy ruined panties. I did my best to hold myself rigid in his arms, perched primly on his knee, but I swore he had some weird magnetic field that made me melt against his chest. "Uh, Ranger?"

He snuggled me a little more firmly into his lap and reached around to click on the next page of the schedule. "Problem, Babe?"

"Don't you think you're pushing the boundaries a little too far?" Parts of him were getting just a bit _too_ friendly, if you know what I mean.

His lips twitched. "This isn't pushing the boundaries, Babe. It's just efficient use of resources."

I started to tell him exactly where he could stick his efficiency, when Lester suddenly burst into the office.

"Hey, Beautiful! You got a minute to…." His words trailed off as he took our seating arrangement in. He blinked once, and then his lips lifted in a slow, lazy grin. "You got a minute to go over a file with me? It's Lenny Grubnik."

I tried to scramble to my feet, but Ranger's arm tightened around my waist, holding me firmly to him. "Sure," I squeaked out. I cleared my throat and tried to answer with as much dignity as possible. "I went to school with his wife, so give me a minute to, er, finish up here."

"No problem, Beautiful. I'll be in my office." Lester's eyebrows waggled. "Does this mean I can get rid of my guest chair?"

I blushed bright red, and Ranger barked out "Santos, mats, 1430!"

After he left, I turned to Ranger. "He didn't mean anything by that, you know," I said lightly. "He's just a big flirt, like you." This was still harmless, flirting, right? Though the feel of his erection against my bottom didn't feel harmless. _Holy crap_, where had he been hiding that thing?

"He'd better not flirt like this," he growled.

Hmmm. Was Ranger jealous? Probably not, but I filed this little tidbit away for future reference. But first, he couldn't keep getting the upper hand like this. It was completely unacceptable. I wriggled and turned in his lap until I was straddling him. I figured he didn't mind, judging by the sheer amount of hunger that I saw in his eyes.

"Well, this has certainly been interesting, but I have a lot to do, before I pick up Julie. First, I have to go help Lester." I licked my lips nervously. Was I really going to do this? "And then, I should probably shower and change – there's that party for her day camp that we're both invited to." I slowly ran one finger over his collar bone. "I'd invite you to join me in the shower, since we're trying to conserve resources," I purred, before I slid off of his lap. "But I just know it's against the SOPs."

I walked out of the office with as much dignity as I could muster, hiding a smile as I heard him groan and curse behind me. The score was Ranger 2 and Stephanie 1, by my count, but I had a feeling I could catch up with no problem.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

Julie was in bed, and I was just getting into my own jammies when I heard a knock, and then the tumble of my front door locks. I wasn't sure when Ranger had started making himself at home – maybe when he'd began stopping by my place for a few minutes most nights. I usually enjoyed these visits, when we'd talk about our days and Julie over decaf or a glass of wine, so I hadn't called him on it. Besides, there were about a dozen things higher on the list, like _what in the hell had happened in that office, today?_

I did a quick check to make sure I was decent. Yoga pants and a camisole weren't exactly professional attire, but I didn't remember inviting him over. Ranger was just dropping a grape from the fruit bowl Ella had left next to Rex's cage when I joined him in the living room.

"He prefers donuts," I joked as I crossed to the refrigerator. I held up a couple of bottles of water and he nodded.

"Not in my building, Babe," he growled playfully as he joined me on the couch.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I know, but since Rex can't read, I figured the SOPs didn't apply to him." It wasn't like I exactly adhered to the RangeMan diet, either, unless Ella was cooking.

I handed a water over to him. "Julie was so excited that you came to the Science camp finale today." He hadn't stayed for the pizza, but he had come to watch Julie's presentation.

His lips twitched. "I now know more about the physics of skateboarding that I ever thought possible."

I grinned back. "That slow motion video of her popping an Ollie sure was something. She got second place." I passed over my phone so he could look through the pictures I'd taken of the award ceremony/pool and pizza party.

He shot me a patented Ranger wolf-grin. "If I'd known you'd be in a swim suit, I would've stayed."

I rolled my eyes. "And defiled the temple with fat and carbs? Not likely."

Ranger handed my phone back and picked up a stack of car brochures I'd been looking through. "You know you can drive the Jeep anytime you need it."

I sighed. "I guess it's a little silly to be buying a car I'll probably only drive a couple of times a week, but I like having my own stuff."

He raised one eyebrow. "Is that why you didn't let your apartment go?"

I shrugged. I'd never thought of it that way. My apartment off of St. James and Dunworth was kind of a dump, but it was mine. "Maybe, but I was also letting grandma use it since I still had almost a year left on the lease." I shook my head. "Mom finally made her move back home a couple of months ago."

Ranger grinned. "I know, I saw the police reports."

I grinned. "She swears she didn't know the parking lot wasn't zoned for Jello wrestling." Well, it wasn't zoned for charging a bunch of senior citizens to watch other old people wrestle in lime flavored goo. We both shuddered at the particular image.

"Speaking of the police, Mary Lou was telling me the strangest thing about Joe Morelli today," I said casually as I took a drink from my water bottle.

"Really? I hadn't heard," he answered, just as casually. If I hadn't heard Lester and Tank talking the other week, I probably would have bought his innocent act.

"Yeah, apparently Joe has been getting some interesting assignments, lately." First he'd been stuck on desk duty, pending some sort of investigation, and then…. "I never knew the mayor's wife had a security detail."

"Well, she doesn't usually, but the police chief decided she needed a bodyguard. We're living in dangerous times," he said gravely.

I snorted. "It's more like the men of Trenton need a bodyguard when she's on the prowl." Sophia Minelli liked her men young and built, and she liked to always have a couple of spare boy toys hanging around.

I shook my head in mostly genuine sympathy. "Poor Joe, she's calling him Honey Buns and had a special uniform made for him." If you could call tight black spandex pants and a tank top a uniform. Popular opinion was that Joe's goose was fully cooked. He'd be lucky to pull traffic duty after this.

His lips lifted in a crooked grin. "Yeah, sucks to be him, but one might call it poetic justice for old sins."

I felt my cheeks heat. I should've known he'd find out about the Tastry Pastry incident. "Morelli's a jerk, but you really didn't have to go to all that trouble on my account." For Julie, maybe, but Joe and I were old news, and not worth the trouble.

"Not worth the trouble?" He growled, making me realize that I had lost the filter between my brain and my mouth, again. "Babe," he said softly, as he slid over to my corner of the couch, until his arms formed a loose cage on either side of me. "One thing you should know by now is that I take care of what's mine." Our eyes locked, and it was like he could read every thought that was going through my head at that moment. Which would suck because not a single one was boss-appropriate.

I licked my lips nervously. "Like you take care of the rest of your employees, right?" I was having trouble deciding if I should kiss him or knee him in the balls. On the one hand, the thought of being 'his' sent a dark thrill racing through me, but on the other, it wasn't like I was a car or a piece of furniture. I wasn't a thing that could be owned.

His eyes were glued to my lips, and the only sound in the apartment was the sound of our breathing and the squeak of Rex's wheel. He bent toward me, until barely an inch separated our lips. "Not exactly."

His lips crashed down on mine. The kiss was hot, hungry and so intense black dots danced in front of my eyes. When we broke apart, I was gasping for breath, and I could only moan as his lips skimmed over the length of my throat. When his lips closed over my cloth-covered nipple, I think I screamed.

It took every shred of self-control I had to push him away, and when he moved off of me I almost followed him. He stood there, looking down at me, and I'd never seen him like that. His hair was loose, streaming around his face, and that look in his eyes– it was almost enough to make me come, right then and there. It was intent, feral, and just about the hottest thing I'd ever seen.

He pushed his hair back from his face and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Now that, Babe, is pushing the boundaries."

I flopped back onto the couch after he'd left and groaned in frustration. Score: Ranger 3, Steph 1.


	12. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: Warning for some mild-ish smut. After much internal debate, I put the outtakes back into the main story. I've labeled them as outtakes, in case you have already read them.**

* * *

Chapter 9

Destroying the Boundaries

* * *

After the night in my apartment when Ranger almost made me come just from the sheerforce of his personality, I spent the next few weeks alternately trying to beat him at his game or avoiding him.

I'd found out from a little birdie named Marisol that Ranger's birthday was just a couple of days after Julie's. He'd apparently stopped having birthdays when he was a teenager, but Julie and I conveniently forgot that little factoid and surprised Ranger with cake and off-key singing at dinner. Well, a sugar-free carob torte wasn't what I would call cake, but it wasn't _totally _disgusting, and he ate a piece. However, I think he preferred the birthday kiss that I ambushed him with later that night. Sure, he was barely breathing hard afterward while I was about to self-combust, but I initiated it, so it was my point. Score: Ranger 3, Steph 2.

And then we all spent a week at the shore toward the end of August. Correction: Julie, Lester, Binkie and I were there for the whole week. Ranger was looking at real estate in Boston, but joined us for the last three days.

The first time I saw him in swimming trunks, I practically knocked myself out tripping over my feet. All I can say is that wet, bare-chested Ranger should come with a warning label. One point went to Ranger for unnecessary groping when he helped me up off the sand.

But I figured making Batman walk into a wall was worth at least two points. Who would've thought my innocently eating a popsicle would affect him like that? Afterward, I wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss me or shake me, so I made damn sure we weren't left alone for the rest of the week. So, the score was now tied, 4-4.

"Hey, Steph. A kid needs help here."

I started, and found myself looking down into Julie's laughing face. Right, we were back in Trenton and I had more important things to worry about than bare-chested Ranger. Like school shopping.

"Kid, what kid?" I teased, pretending to look around the Old Navy store.

She giggled. "Me! This is really important." She held up two backpacks. "Which one should I get?"

"Hmmm," I said thoughtfully as I looked at her choices. Both backpacks were tiny, pastel colored, and had a design on the front pocket. "They're cute, but it depends on whether you're a pink stripes and peace sign kind of girl, or a purple stripes and skull chick?"

Her brow furrowed as she weighed her options. Finally, she put the pink one back on the shelf. "Skulls are more badass."

"Jules! Where did you hear that?" I was pretty sure she didn't need help with the badass-ery with Ranger for a father, but... I heard a snicker from just behind me and turned to glare at Zero. _Hello – we're supposed to be the responsible adults here_! If I couldn't laugh, he couldn't either.

She shrugged. "Tío Lester says it all the time."

I began to plot Lester's very slow, painful death, even as I frantically searched my memory for the appropriate response. What would Mary Lou do?

"You know how some things are just for grown-ups?" She nodded, so I continued. "Well that word is definitely a grown-up word, so you'll have to wait until you're at least eighteen to use it, OK?"

She scowled. "That doesn't sound very fair."

I glanced quickly over at Zero, who was bent over, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. I wondered how he'd feel about taking Grandma to the next viewing at Stiva's. He must have read my mind, because he immediately sobered and stood to attention.

I sighed. "I know, but can you do me a big favor and just say 'cool' instead for the next few years? It'd keep us both out of trouble with Sister Carmela." And her father. I wasn't sure who was scarier, Julie's principal or Ranger.

She considered this for several long second and finally nodded. "I hear she smacks you on the knuckles with a ruler if you get called into her office."

I rubbed my right hand, reflexively. "Trust me, it really stings when they do that."

I shook off the memories of my misspent youth and dug through my bag for our shopping list. "Backpack, check. We got your uniforms yesterday, so now we just need to get the school supplies." I checked it again. Folders, pencils, playing cards, marbles and potting soil? "Uh… we might have to make a couple of stops."

Julie came up beside me and studied the list. "Cool! Can I get all pink marbles?"

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

A couple of nights later, I'd conquered my first back to school shopping list and was settling in for some quality time with a few of my favorite men – Rex, Ben and Jerry and Kevin Spacey. Don't judge – Julie was spending the weekend with Marisol and Ernesto, and I was free as a bird until I picked her up at the Mañoso's Labor Day picnic.

I stopped to drop a couple of grapes into Rex's cage after I'd grabbed my dinner from the freezer. "I wish you could try this," I moaned as I dug into my ice cream. "It's like they smushed up a whole Boston Crème donut in here. It's soooo good."

I felt the tingling sensation along the back of my neck before I heard him. "Babe."

I stifled a scream as I spun around. "Jesus, Ranger! Give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

He nodded toward the carton my hands. "Hot date?"

"Say what you want, but Ben and Jerry have never let me down." I held out my spoon. "Want some?"

His lips twitched. "I'd rather eat pie," he said with a wink. Holy ruined panties; I wasn't sure if I could handle playful Ranger.

_Wait_. Ranger Mañoso eating sweets? "No pie here, but I'm pretty sure I could find a TastyKake, if you're hungry." When he just shook his head and grinned, I finally got it. "God, you're such a pig!"

He leaned toward me, his breath warm on my cheek. "I bet you'd like it, if you let me try, Babe."

Oh sweet baby Jesus. I closed my eyes and bit back a moan. My doo-dah and I both agreed that Ranger was probably a champion pie eater, but I couldn't encourage him. A little harmless teasing was fun, but I was pretty sure anything more wouldn't just push those boundaries. It would destroy them.

I took a deep breath and ducked away from him. "Hey, want something to drink?" I was at the refrigerator before he could answer me.

He grinned as he caught the bottle I tossed him. "Sure, water is fine."

I rolled my eyes as I led the way to the living room and plopped down on the couch. "So I'm really behind on House of Cards, but what's your story? Shouldn't you and Santos be closing down some club?" I knew that was how Lester spent most Saturday nights, but I'd never been sure about Ranger.

He just shook his head and took my ice cream from me. He set it carefully on the coffee table before sitting down next to me. I considered pointing out that he was in my personal space, but I figured he knew.

"We both know that I'm not going to find what I really want at a club," he said, his voice low and velvety soft.

"What do you want, then?" I licked my lips, nervously. Surely he didn't mean what I thought he did? "If you're hungry, I think Ella left a casserole."

He shook his head again, and I swallowed, hard. "Wanna play Yahtzee? MarioKart?"

"No." Ranger's lips met mine then, in an almost desperate kiss. I didn't know if he was trying to tell me something, or keep me from suggesting anything else.

"This game is getting a little intense," I gasped out when we finally broke apart.

Ranger's lips skimmed along my jaw and up to the shell of my ear. "This isn't a game, Babe."

His hands closed on my hips, and before I knew it, he was hauling me up and around until I was straddling his lap. He rolled his hips upward, grinding his hardness against me. "I've never been more serious."

_Oh God_. I could feel just how serious he was, even through several layers of fabric. My panties instantly grew damp, and my breaths came in gasps as he pushed against me one more time. I moaned and let myself grind back for a second. "This really isn't a good idea, Ranger."

His hands slid around to cup my bottom, pressing me tightly to him and stilling my movements. "Maybe it isn't, but I can't stop myself from wanting you. Can you?"

I closed my eyes as each growled word sent a bolt of pure desire straight through me. I shook my head.

His right hand slid upward, skimming over my back and sides until he cupped my chin. His thumb ghosted over my lower lip in a gesture so tender I almost cried. "I tried to tell myself you were off limits, and I tried staying away. I've even tried taking just enough from you to satisfy the cravings, but nothing worked."

My eyes flew open and I found myself gasping at the look he was shooting me. His eyes were dark with arousal and the hunger in them had moisture flooding from my core. If he kept that up, I was bound to embarrass myself. "What do you think we should do then?"

His other hand slid up to cup my cheek, and he drew me toward him until our lips almost touched. "We should just give in."

He kissed me then, and holy crap, was it ever a kiss. It was all lips, tongue, and teeth, like he wanted to devour me. It cost me, but I finally pushed back. "Hold on, we have to discuss some ground rules, first," I panted.

He made a sound of pure frustration in the back of his throat as his head fell against the back of the couch. "You want to negotiate rules? Now? _Babe_."

I really, really, didn't. In fact, I wanted nothing more than to tear our clothes off and ride him like a pony, but I could see this getting way out of hand if we didn't set some limits. Fast.

He was my boss, and I needed this job, almost as much as I love Julie. If I screwed this up, I wouldn't be the only one getting hurt.

_Think, Steph, Think. _ The prudent thing would be to stop this right now, but I really didn't think that was possible. The desire I felt for him was like a living, breathing thing. It had me in its clutches, and wasn't going to let me go anytime soon.

"One evening – and then we go back to the way it should have been all along – no games, no flirting."

He shook his head. "You think one night would be enough? I'd rather we just let this thing run its course." His hand slid to the back of my neck and his thumb began to draw circles on the nape of my neck. It was as arousing as it was soothing.

No. "More than one night would feel too much like a relationship." I shook my head. "I can't do that, especially with you, _Boss." _Maybe I could handle a single night with him, but any more than that, I'd never be able to keep my emotions out of the equation.

He sighed. "My life doesn't lend itself to relationships, either. I always carry two guns and a knife, and I could be called out for a takedown or break-in five minutes from now." His arms slipped around my back and drew me close, a strange gesture considering our conversation. "What little free time I can shake loose in a day belongs to Julie, so no, I don't see any picket fences in my future."

I started to pull away. It was crazy, but his words hurt, more than I ever wanted to admit "Fine, so we agree that this can't happen. The sensible…."

He mouth met mine in a savage, punishing kiss, cutting off the rest of my words. Then he abruptly pulled away, his gaze almost angry. "Fuck sensible. The only thing that will make me leave right now is if you tell me you don't want this."

I couldn't and he knew it. "OK, until morning then." Twelve hours with the hottest man I'd ever met. It would be a sacrifice, but I'd manage somehow.

His gaze sharpened. "48 hours." His hands slid to my waist and then under my the hem of my camisole, moving the soft material out of the way as his fingers traced a path of fire over my stomach and ribs.

I shuddered as he cupped my breasts. "Won't work. I have to pick Julie up at your parents' barbecue on Monday." I bit back a moan when his thumbs teased my nipples, making them tighten into hard, almost painful points. "Until Sunday afternoon." I'd promised to take Grandma to a viewing.

He undid my bra with a flick of his fingers, and pushed it and my top up and over my head. "Two full nights, until _we_ have to leave for Newark."

I gasped as his lips closed over my nipple. _Fine, Grandma could fend for herself. _I must've said that out loud because he began to chuckle, the vibration of his lips tickling me as he trailed them along the curve of my breast.

I reared back and shot him a glare. "Two nights, but then it's finished. You'll treat me just like any other employee."

Ranger kissed his way up my chest and throat until we were eye to eye, and his lips spread in a wolf-grin. "I don't think I'll ever be able to think of you and Cal the same way, Babe."

I huffed out a breath. "Don't be obtuse, Ranger." It was time to wrap up this up, before I went any crazier. "Can you promise me that our work relationship won't change, and that there won't be any more hanky-panky?"

His gaze narrowed. "Fine, it'll be hands off, come Monday. Now can we get to the hanky-panky before I explode?"

"I'll give you all the hanky-panky you can handle." My grin turned devilish, as I slid my hand up under his tight black T-shirt and teased along the ridges of his eight-pack. "I have a couple of ideas about how we could start." I leaned forward and whispered a particularly indecent suggestion in his ear.

His eyes went pitch black with arousal. "Oh yeah, that will work," he said huskily as he stood and threw me over his shoulder.

We landed on my bed, in a tangle of limbs. I giggled breathlessly as I helped him slide my yoga pants down over my hips. They landed on the floor with a plop, and his T-shirt joined them a couple of seconds later. I sat up to help him with his pants, but froze in shock as he reached around to the small of his back and pulled out a gun before bending down to fish another, smaller pistol and a knife from his boots. The boots got tossed in the corner, and his weapons went on the bedside table.

_Huh_. I guess he hadn't been joking about being heavily armed. Oh well, he'd warned me, and frankly, it was kind of hot. And then he shucked off his cargoes and I pretty much lost the ability to think at all. Ranger is, in one word, beautiful. His features belong on a renaissance statue, his eyes are like melted chocolate, his skin is the color of a mocha-latte, and his body is as good as a body can get.

"So, we're really going to do this?" I licked my lips nervously as my gaze settled on his mid-section. _Holy Crap_, how was he ever going to fit without splitting me in two?

Ranger grinned as he fished a condom out of his cargoes and threw it on the bed beside me. "We are and it's going to be good, Babe."

And it was. His lips skimmed over my breasts, my stomach and down – down to exactly where I needed him. When his lips closed over my clit and sucked, I couldn't help but arch into him, and when he thrust his fingers into me, I was gone.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

The rest of the weekend was even hotter. We didn't leave my apartment except for food and a drugstore run, and yes, we made it through a whole box of twelve condoms. It was the best sex of my life, and I'm still not sure how I managed to lock everything back down come Monday.

Well, actually I do know; I didn't have a choice. I had a nine year old to get ready for school, two urgent messages from Lester about a skip, and a barbecue to get through. It didn't help that it was hosted by the parents of the man I'd just banged like a drum, but on the bright side, Marisol sent me home with leftovers. If I couldn't crawl back into bed with Ranger, at least I had some of her heavenly cake to console me.

So, as the weeks went by, we worked things out. Sure, some of the looks Ranger shot me were hot enough to send me up in flames, but he kept his hands to himself, and I did, too. I started dropping by his office every morning to discuss anything Julie related, and he got the hint and didn't stop by my apartment at night. We communicated by email otherwise, and our relationship slowly morphed into what it should have always been: boss and employee. If I was lonelier than usual, or if my shower massager wasn't cutting it anymore, then it was just too damn bad.

Don't get me wrong, I had a lot to occupy my time. Julie was back in school and had added karate to her other after school activities, and I'd started helping RangeMan with background searches a couple of mornings a week. Some guy named Rodriguez kept my inbox full, but I'd never met him. I was beginning to think he was either a ghost, or a figment of Lester's overactive imagination.

So yeah, I was super busy. And when I wasn't, I had lunch with Mary Lou or hung out at the bonds office.

Now, I normally wouldn't get within 100 yards of my sleazy cousin Vinnie, but I'd gotten to know his office manager over the last few months. Connie Rizolli is a couple of years older than I am, a little smarter, a little tougher, and lot more connected. She's a few inches shorter than I am, has a lot more chest, and she looks a little like Betty Boop. She's also pretty good people.

Back when I was out of work, I'd met Lula, a 'ho down on Stark street who'd done me a solid favor. When Lula had mentioned that she was looking to change professions, I'd remembered that my cousin Vinnie was hiring, so I'd given her Connie's number. I really hadn't expected anything to come out of it, but Lula and Connie had hit it off and Vinnie had gotten himself a brand-new file clerk. Not that Lula filed that much.

Anyway, whenever I got tired of breathing in all of the testosterone at RangMan, I could always count on Lula and Connie for girl time. Naturally, that meant that we snarfed down donuts and talked about men. Connie, likes them young. Lula just likes men. Period.

"And girl! My new boo Tyrone is hung!" Lula fanned herself with the purple feather boa that she'd paired with a pink sequined mini-dress. "I'm tellin' you there ain't nothing like riding a big strapping man like a pony, am I right, or am I right?"

Connie nodded, but I pleaded the Fifth, which was a good thing because Ranger picked that moment to stop by. Since I was in the guest chair, my back was to the door, but I would've known it was him even without the tell-tale tingle along the back of my neck. Ranger was the only person I knew who could render Connie and Lula speechless.

He was in full urban commando gear – boots, black cargos and a T-shirt that lovingly hugged his biceps and perfectly defined pecs, and when he stopped next to me in front of Connie's desk, I pretended to read a magazine. Looking directly at Ranger is a little like staring at the sun - more than a split second at a time is dangerous.

"We picked up Junior Vignotti last night," he said as he passed a body receipt over to Connie. He nodded toward the files on the corner of the desk. "Those the files for RangeMan?"

I couldn't help but snort with laughter when Connie just nodded mutely. When I finally dared to sneak a peek at Ranger, his lips tilted up at the corners and he reached out and tucked a curl behind my ear. "Catch you later, Babe. Ladies." And then he was gone, leaving only the lingering scent of his body wash behind.

"Oh good Lord, please tell me you've got you some of that," Lula said as she fanned herself.

Connie shook herself out of her stupor. "Did he actually just smile?" She asked, wide-eyed.

I held up my hands. "How many times do I have to tell you that he's my boss? We have a strict no hanky-panky policy." OK, it was a recent policy, but it _was_ in place.

"Hunh. You ain't no fun, white girl." Lula grumbled. "I'm telling you that man's so hot, it ought to be a crime."

Secretly, I agreed, but there was no way I was telling them that. "Hey, did you read this article in Cosmo, yet?"

It was maybe a half hour later when the door opened again. Since I knew it wasn't Ranger, I turned in my chair to see who it was.

The woman was about my height and maybe ten pounds lighter. Her dark brown hair hung halfway down her back in lustrous waves, and her skin was the color of caramel. She was poured into head-to-toe black leather, and she had more than a passing resemblance to Halle Berry in 'Cat Woman'.

Normally I'm OK with the way I look; I know I don't scare small children or anything. But next to her, I felt very, very plain.

Connie was the first to speak. "Welcome to Plum Bail Bonds. Can I help you?"

The woman smiled and held out her hand to shake. "I was told you could. I'm Carmen Mañoso, and I'm looking for my husband, Ricardo. Some people call him Ranger."

* * *

AN: Cue omnious music :P.

Shout out to: spiffytgm, carrotmusic, Janarden, caregiver, Anonymous, trhodes9, annalynn88, Judi, got2BaBabeFan, eisbehr, Selene Aduial, Margaret aka whymelucylu, Stephannie1014, deviates322, Liz1969, shellbell78, RhoJ, jkgk, Barb4psu, shanti, Fanfictionstalker, jules3677, First Generation Scot, hummer246, DebK, daffydbuck, bkc04, alix33, daxandpat, Amanda, AvidReader 59, MargaritaS, carrotmusic, jaxg, CherryWolf713, erdi99, ThinkAboutItBabe, KbellaManoso, Lilygreen, bgrgrmpy, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews!


	13. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

AN: Yes, many of you have guessed correctly. I know I'm moving the timeline up a bit, but there are spoilers for Twelve Sharp from here on out – with a twist or two.

I've been asked for Ranger's POV of their weekend, but I just can't think of a new twist or slant to put on it to make it different enough from the last chapter. What if I make you all a deal and promise that any future smut/or relationship talk will be from Ranger's POV? We haven't heard the last from Batman, I promise.

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Chapter 10

One Ranger is all you need.

* * *

_Previously: Connie was the first to speak. "Welcome to Plum Bail Bonds. Can I help you?"_

_The woman smiled and held out her hand to shake. "I was told you could. I'm Carmen Mañoso, and I'm looking for my husband, Ricardo. Some people call him Ranger."_

It's hard to describe how I felt when an absolutely gorgeous woman walked through the door and told me she was married to my boss, and recent one-time lover.

Shock? Yes, certainly. Jealousy? I don't like to admit it, but yes. Anger and a sense of betrayal? Youbetcha. Ever since I'd caught my soon-to-be ex-husband boinking Joyce Barnhardt, one thing I'd sworn I'd never do was sleep with another woman's husband. But something about all this was feeling awfully hinky to me, so I butted in before Connie could answer her.

"Mañoso?" I asked, putting on my very best Jersey girl accent. "Ain't he that bounty hunter that brings in bail jumpers for Vinnie sometimes?" RangeMan did many things, and bounty hunting for my slimy cousin was just one of them.

Connie's eyes were wide with surprise, but she dragged her mouth up off the floor and nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

Carmen looked at me suspiciously. "And you are?"

I pasted on a smile and held out my hand to shake. "Stephanie." I jerked my chin toward the front window of the Bonds office, where the business name was prominently displayed. "The sleazeball who owns this joint is my cousin."

She gave me the once over and must've decided I wasn't a threat because she turned back to Connie. "My husband mentioned that he was coming up here for a job. Can I speak to the bail bondsman?" She asked, just a trifle bitchily. It could be that she was being perfectly nice and I was just projecting, but I couldn't tell off-hand.

Connie must've caught the frantic looks I was shooting her from behind Carmen's back, because she picked up an emery board and started to file her nails. "He ain't in, but I'd be glad to take a message for ya," she said in a bored voice. Connie was actually telling the truth. As far as I could tell, Vinnie spent most of his working hours either at the racetrack or shut up in his office watching porn.

Carmen cursed under her breath in Spanish. "Well, have _you_ seen Ricardo, lately?" Her tone of voice was definitely snotty now, so I revised my first opinion. She was a bitch.

Connie, bless her, just kept on working on her manicure. "It's been a while, but I can't be sure." She looked to me and Lula for confirmation.

Lula nodded. "I ain't seen his fine ass since maybe….. August sometime." She looked over at me then. "I think you was hanging out here that day, too, white girl." I silently thanked God that Connie was a mob princess and Lula had spent time on the streets. They knew the value of a well-placed fib.

All eyes turned toward me, so I put down my magazine and tried to copy Connie's bored expression. "That sounds about right." I looked up at Carmen. "When did you last see your husband? Maybe that'd help us jog our memories."

She looked at me suspiciously for several long seconds, before finally answering. "Labor Day weekend, not that it's any of your business."

Now I knew something was off. Carmen might be married, but it probably wasn't to Ranger Mañoso. I knew very well where he'd been that weekend, and it wasn't in her bed. I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder. "It had to have been before then, because I just spent the last few weeks at the Shore." I sketched a finger wave at Connie and Lula. "I'll catch you later." I nodded at Carmen. "Sorry I couldn't help more."

I sauntered out of the office and got into the Jeep, but I didn't pull away right away. Instead, I took out my phone and pretended to check my email. My view of the Bond's office wasn't the best, but I thought I saw Carmen toss something on Connie's desk. After a couple of minutes, she stalked out, got into the shiny black Escalade that was parked right in front of me, and drove off with screech of tires. But not before I'd snapped a couple of pictures.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

I glanced at my phone's clock anxiously as I waited for the elevator to ascend to the Fifth floor. I hadn't wasted anytime getting back to RangeMan, so it wasn't even 1:30 PM, yet. Maybe I'd have time to get to the bottom of this latest mystery and still pick up Julie from school. The doors finally opened and I marched straight toward Ranger's office. His door was ajar, so I knocked once and barged inside. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that he and Tank were huddled around his desk.

Ranger looked up sharply when I entered. "Is there a problem, Babe?"

I scowled at him. "You could say that." I flopped down in the second guest chair. "I just met your wife at the Bonds office."

If I hadn't worked out already that something was rotten in the state of Trenton, Ranger's shocked expression would've gone a long way toward convincing me.

"Steph – I swear I'm not…"

I cut him of with a careless wave of my hand. "I figured you probably weren't." It'd come to me on the drive back to RangeMan. I saw Ranger, at least in passing, nine days out of ten, and the biggest gossip in the building was his cousin. If the man was married to Carmen Mañoso of Virginia Beach, he was a better secret agent than 007 ever was.

I tossed a business card I'd sealed up in a Ziploc bag onto the desk. "This might have her prints. Hopefully Goldfish crumbs won't interfere with the finger printing process." I'd gone back into the Bonds office especially for the card, and it had been my second clue something was up. "You don't have another branch in Virginia, do you?"

Ranger and Tank were both staring at me like I'd just crawled out of a spaceship. "What?" I said, throwing up my hands. "I watch CSI." I opened up the photo gallery on my phone and handed it over to Ranger. "I got pictures of your wifey and her license plate."

Tank chuckled and shook his head. "I want you to be my partner from now on, Little Girl. Forget the joker I'm saddled with."

Since Tank was Ranger's partner, I figured the stiff middle finger he shot Tank was justified. Ranger flipped through the photos, and then sat back and gazed at me steadily for several long seconds. "Proud of you, Babe."

Those four words turned my insides to goo, and I had to give my hormones a stern talking to. There was still a chance that he was a lying, cheating scumbag, so I should probably put lusting after my boss on hold for a little while longer.

Ranger brought out his phone and hit speed dial. "Yo! Send Hal up with a finger printing kit and start a search on Carmen Mañoso, Virginia, plate number Baker- Charlie- Echo- five-five-six."

I rolled my eyes when he hung up without another word. "Would it kill you to say hello and goodbye?" I loved the RangeMen, but their phone manners were atrocious.

Ranger's lips twitched. "Talk to Tank and we'll add it to the SOPs." And then his all business blank face slammed into place. "Run through everything that happened at the bonds office after I left. Don't leave anything out."

I glared at him for a second. He sighed. "Please."

Though I was certain he didn't need to know how many donuts we'd eaten or what was in this month's Cosmo, I more or less followed his instructions and walked him through my encounter with Carmen. It took me a while, and Hal came and went and Lester and Silvio wandered in with laptops before I was through.

"So, Lula and Connie promised to keep their mouths shut," I said as I finished up. "But I kind of had to promise to buy them their donuts for the next couple of weeks and to tell them what's going on." Eventually.

Ranger winced. "I'll have someone run the first installment by, later." He turned toward Tank. "I want an extra team on Julie and no one goes out without a partner." Everyone turned to stare at me.

"What?" I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment. I hated lock down procedures. We'd already been through this once, back in the summer, and it wasn't fun.

"You have a history of losing your backup, Beautiful," Lester supplied, helpfully. When I didn't answer, he continued. "Like when we were having trouble hauling in Gardini?"

"It was one time, and everyone knows Jimmy G. is a dumbass!" I fumed. I'd known I wasn't a target, and I'd wanted to get a pedicure without one of the guys standing over me.

Ranger's jaw clenched. "This isn't a two-bit hood from the Burg, this time, so you're not going anywhere alone until further notice.

"Jeez, I'm not nine. I don't need a babysitter." I'd accepted that Julie had guards, but I'd gotten used to coming and going as I pleased when she wasn't with me. I was a grown woman, not a grade-schooler

Ranger and I locked eyes, and after about a minute, I finally gave up on the starting contest. "Fine, but you have to keep me posted on what's happening.

Ranger nodded, and Tank and Silvio left. Lester's laptop dinged and Ranger turned to him. "Report."

When Lester hesitated and looked over at me, I just crossed my arms and sank back in my chair. "I think Ranger's wife involved me in this already, so this is where you start keeping me informed."

Lester shook his head and snickered. "Someone's in trouble," he sang under his breath. When Ranger growled at him, he sobered. "Carmen Mañoso, born Carmen Maria Sanchez." He set the laptop on the desk and turned it so Ranger could see. "The car is in her name, but the apartment listed on the vehicle registration isn't." He clicked on another window and brought up another report. Lester smirked. "It looks like the dumbass used his own name and social security number for the electric bill."

I moved around the desk so I could get a look at the laptop's screen. The probable dumbass was named Edward Scrog, he was twenty-eight years old and shockingly enough, he looked like he could maybe be Ranger's cousin. Same hair, similar coloring and build. I started to open my mouth, but Lester just shook his head slightly. For once, I kept my mouth shut.

Ranger read though the report and then sat back. "See who we know down in Virginia, and have them check it out." He thought for a second. "Send someone down there if you have to."

Lester nodded. "How about here? Full coverage?"

Ranger nodded back. "Get everyone working their contacts. If he's here and he farts, I want to know about it."

After Lester left, I looked at Ranger expectantly. "Can you explain all that in English, please?"

Ranger pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right now, I really wish you were one of my men."

I snorted. "Well, you can't just order me to leave, so spill."

"I got a call from a contact last week. He'd heard about someone using my name to bounty hunt down south somewhere." He shrugged. "We hadn't been able to dig up anything concrete until you brought us Carmen." His lips spread into a very small grin. "Good work."

"Do I get a bonus, boss?" I teased. When he reached for me, I backed up a couple of steps. "Just so I've got it straight. You're definitely not married to Carmen, right?"

He shook his head. "_Babe._ I'm not married to anyone. If she's married, it's to the guy who's been passing himself off as me."

"Just checking." I studied him carefully for a moment longer. Ranger was hard to read, but unless I was going crazy, he was hurt by my question. I relaxed slightly. I already sort of regretted sleeping with my boss, and I wasn't sure I could've handled sleeping with my _married _boss.

Finally satisfied that he was being straight with me, I moved back to his side of the desk. "So, there are two Rangers running around?" I asked with a sly grin as I poked him on the shoulder. "There's no way the world is ready for that." _Though two Rangers would be a whole lot of fun, in certain situations._

Ranger's lips lifted in a slow, lazy wolf grin, and before I knew it, he'd grabbed me and laid a hard, fast kiss on my lips. "One Ranger is all you'll ever need, Babe."

Oh boy. I wondered if I'd said that out loud. I staggered back up to my feet and blinked at him owlishly. "Don't we have a non-fraternization policy in place?"

He just shrugged. "We're allowed a couple of slip-ups."

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

The next couple of days were mostly quiet, considering that Ranger barely let me and Julie go to the bathroom alone. From the way Ranger was acting, you'd barely know a potentially crazy man was trying to steal his identity. He still showed up at dinner, and he'd even kept Julie in school after she'd begged him to let her at least finish the week. They were apparently holding auditions for the school play.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I refused to let anyone lie to that kid. Sure, we didn't tell her all of the details, but Julie was smart. She noticed things – like the fact that I was a little nervous or that we suddenly had as many as six muscle-bound baby sitters following us at all times.

The only wrinkle was that Carmen had followed me and Zip from the bonds office the day before when I'd delivered a box of donuts to Connie and Lula.

We'd pulled over so I could talk to her, and all I can tell you is that she is seriously reality-impaired. _**Flashback_

_She'd stopped with a squeal of brakes and burst out of her SUV. Her hair was even bouncier than the day before and the sunlight glinted off of her outfit as she stalked toward me. I hadn't known they made anything but shoes out of patent leather, much less dusters and cat suits. Frankly, she looked pretty badass; I wouldn't have blamed Ranger if he had married her. _

_"__You puta!" She hissed as she stopped barely two feet from where I lounged against the hood of the Jeep._

_"__Excuse me?" I sent a sharp look toward Zip, and he took his hand off his gun and backed off a couple of steps. Carmen didn't even spare him a glance, which was my first clue that she was a few bricks short of a load. If a scary, armed dude had me in his sights, I'd _notice.

_"__You played me for a fool, yesterday." She narrowed her eyes at me. "Were you so stupid to think that I wouldn't ask around about you?"_

_I tried my best to look bored. "I still don't know what you're talking about."_

_She spat at my feet. Luckily for her, I wasn't wearing my good shoes. "They're calling you Mañoso's woman on the street." She bent toward me until we were almost nose to nose. "You may be his little Jersey side piece, but I'm his wife."_

_I almost sagged in relief. Whoever had told her about me obviously hadn't bothered to mention Julie – or hadn't known about her. "Look lady, I've never met your husband."_

_She reared back and glared at me for almost a minute and I just stared implacably back at her. I was telling the God's honest truth. I'd seen her marriage certificate, but she wasn't hitched to my Ranger. _

_She finally snorted in disgust. "Lie all you want, but Ricardo will toss you aside like this," she said with a snap of her fingers. "I'm a bounty hunter – a real partner to him, and you're just a play thing." She drilled her finger into my chest. "Back off or I'll make you." _

_She left me in a flurry of leather and slammed back into her Escalade. As she sped off, I let out a long, shuddering breath. "Someone forgot to take their medication this morning," I told Zip._

_"__You got some balls on you, Steph." He checked his phone. "It looks like the tail had time to get into position."_

Ranger was only a little angry at the stunt we'd pulled, but unfortunately she lost the tail.

But crazy fake wife or no, life goes on, which was how Zip, Zero and I found ourselves inching up the driveway of Julie's school at 3:05 PM the day after my second meeting with Carmen. "I can't believe the traffic today," I said as I impatiently drummed my fingers against the dash. We'd got caught in some construction back on Hamilton, and the second RangeMan SUV was still stuck back on the main road.

I finally jumped out and made my way to the front entrance. Our Lady of Sorrows was a small school and each class waited with their teachers at a designated area for pick up. As a security measure, it was simple but effective. Of course, that hadn't stopped Ranger from giving them a really good deal on a security system or helping to fund a security guard. I'd thought he was being paranoid back when I first started to work for him, but as I neared the fourth grade waiting area, I got the sick feeling it hadn't been enough.

I stopped dead and quickly scanned the small crowd of kids clustered around Julie's teacher. I searched a second time as a knot of dread settled in the pit of my stomach. _No Julie._

I said a quick prayer as I made my way to Sister Mary Robert. "Where's Julie?" I demanded.

"Miss Plum!" The sister was a motherly looking woman in her mid-forties and I'd never seen her so flustered. "Julie has already been picked up."

I tried to stamp down on the feeling of panic that was welling up through me. "By whom?"

Sister Mary Robert blinked once. "By her father, of course!"

I wasn't sure how I stayed upright, or how I kept from screaming right there in front of a bunch of nuns and a couple hundred children.

As Zero started to run toward me, I pressed speed dial one on my phone. When Ranger answered, I could barely get the words out. "Please tell me you have Julie."

Of course, the answer was no.

* * *

Shout outs to: wyominggal, Angie, bgrgmpy, shellbell78, alix33, erdi99, babes-tastycakes, jkgk, DebK, Selene Aduial, Stephannie1014, YbanormImom, Anonymous, MnGrammaX3, First Generation Scot, sapphireangel09, RhoJ, Elkniw73, 56 olds, daffydbuck, deviates322, carrotmusic, Lilygreen, Fanfictionstalker, av981638, Barb4psu, bkc04, Angela Meuller, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews!


	14. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: Shout out to erdi99 – Her comment on the last chapter inspired the title of this one.**

* * *

Chapter 11

This Sh*t Just Got Real

* * *

The next few minutes passed like something out of a dream – or nightmare, in this case. After I'd hung up on Ranger, I'd sat heavily down on the curb, clutching my phone as one thought echoed through my head, over and over again. _Someone had kidnapped Julie, and it was my fault._ _My fault. _I'd known about the construction. I should have left extra early, called the school office – done something.

Slowly, I became aware of the activity around me. Zero was on his phone; Zip, Woody, and Binkie had arrived and were holding back the crowd. Julie's teacher was standing next to me, hysterically screaming that '_a black SUV was waiting out front when school let out - the driver had looked just like Julie's father."_

The fourth time she'd repeated the same damned thing, I finally stood and closed the distance between us. The mental vacation had been great (not), but it was time to pull on my big girl panties and get back to reality. Which currently really sucked.

I gently grasped her flailing wrist. "Sister, please." She kept right on telling me that the SUV had looked just like one of RangeMan's. I silently prayed for forgiveness and grasped both of her shoulders and shook. "Sister Mary Robert, **Stop**. This isn't helping Julie," I said in my firmest voice – the one I used to tell Lester to get his hands off of my butt during sparring practice.

She closed her mouth with a squeak and I stood back, grateful that I hadn't had to slap a nun. Maybe I could avoid condemning my soul to Hell for at least one more day. "Sister," I said quietly. I paused, and noticed that the sirens were getting closer. "The police will want your statement in a minute."

The principal came over and took Sister Mary Robert aside, and I let myself sag against the building.

"You holding up OK, Steph?" Woody asked as he drew me into a one-armed hug.

I leaned into him for a second. "I'm really, really not. What kind of nanny lets her charge get kidnapped?"

His expression was grim. "Share the blame. Three tours in the sandbox and I screw this up? Five fucking minutes and we would've caught the bastard."

"And you can both save this shit for group therapy, later," Tank growled from just beside us. "Let's work on getting our girl back home."

I looked around and blinked. I must've been more out of it than I thought. At some point, more RangeMen had arrived and so had the police. A couple of cops were directing traffic and my cousin's husband, Eddie Gazzara, was headed toward Sister Mary Robert and the principal, Sister Carmela.

I scanned the crowd, again. "Where's Ranger, and how did you get here so fast?"

"He ain't here." Tank winced. "It's real complicated. I was already on my way to get you, so -"

"Wait," I said, cutting him off. "More complicated than his only child being kidnapped?!" I screeched.

Tank winced again, and I made a note to dial it down. "If you can hold on for a few minutes, the boss man will answer all your questions."

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

It was easier to get away than I thought it'd be. Eddie took a brief statement, with the promise of a follow-up later, and with Tank clearing the way, I was in a SUV headed down Hamilton Ave in less than fifteen minutes. Instead of going back to the RangeMan building on Haywood, we pulled up outside of a three story brick townhouse in a residential area not too far from the capitol.

Once inside, I stopped in the entry way and just looked around in confusion. It was nice enough, with dark hardwood floors, overstuffed furniture and an open plan kitchen that was almost as tricked out as mine back at Haywood. The weird thing was that half a dozen of Ranger's men were spread out over the living and dining rooms and they were either on their phones or hunched over a laptop – sometimes both. It was like a mini control room.

I raised both eyebrows in question, and Tank led me through to a bedroom on the far side of the living area. Ranger was there on the bed, and he had _two _laptops open in front of him. "No excuses," he growled into is phone as he tapped the keys of the laptop on his right. "I'll expect the information within the hour."

He ended the call and looked up at me; I was shocked at the change in him since I'd seen him in his office that morning. His RangeMan uniform was still immaculate, but his hair was free of its usual tie and in disarray, like he'd been repeatedly running his fingers through it. There were visible lines of fatigue around his eyes and mouth, and his shoulders were slumped in….defeat?

I wanted to go to him, to take him in my arms and tell him that everything would be all right. Hell, I wanted _him _to do the same for me, but here's a home truth - I'm not that great in a crisis. So I found myself giving in to all of the fear and anger that had been threatening to choke me for the last hour.

I marched up to him. "What in the hell is all of this?" I exclaimed, gesturing wildly at him and back toward the living room. "Julie is missing and no one is out there looking for her?!"

His face was impassive. "It's comp-"

I'd had it. "If I hear someone say that it's complicated one more time, I'm going to scream," I hissed. "Some crazy person has her and no one's doing anything," I said as I whapped him in the chest. "Not. A. Goddamned. Thing." I _was_ screaming by then, and punctuating each of my words with a halfhearted punch to his chest.

Ranger's a little better in a crisis than I am, so I somehow found myself in his lap as he whispered in my ear. It was all in Spanish, so I have no idea what he said, but it was soothing. And somehow, I'd stopped beating on him and was doing my best to not sob into that hard, wonderful smelling chest.

I finally sat up and swiped at my eyes. "Boy, this is awkward." We stared at each other for several long beats before I finally said what I should have when I first walked into the room. "I'm sorry."

One elegant, dark eyebrow shot up. "Babe?"

"Julie's gone, and it's my fault." I took a deep shuddering breath and tried to get off his lap. His arms tightened convulsively around me before reluctantly letting me go.

He shook his head ruefully. "We all dropped the ball on this one, especially me."

I just shook my head. Maybe Tank had a point and we should just save the blame game for later. I finally did the second and third things I should've done from the beginning and I stepped between his legs and hugged him as he sat there on the end of the bed. "How are you holding up?"

He didn't answer me, but he hugged me back. I tried to copy his slow, steady breaths, and we stayed there, for God knows how long, just breathing. We probably would have stayed there forever, but the sound of a throat clearing finally broke us apart.

Tank shrugged, almost apologetically. "I got those updates for you, boss man."

To his credit, Ranger didn't even try to order me out of the room. He just moved over to give me room to sit next to him as Tank disappeared into the other room.

"This is pretty nice," I said as I looked around the bedroom. "But can I ask why we're here instead of Haywood?"

"It's a safe house," Ranger said, as if that would clear up all my questions.

"The cops requested the pleasure of Ranger's company, Beautiful. But since we're a little busy right now, we moved our base of operations to this super-secret hideaway," Lester explained as he entered the room with Tank.

Tank smacked him on the back of the head. "You just ain't right." He turned toward Ranger. "It's confirmed. Carmen's body was found in a dumpster behind Sal's meat market at approximately 1300 hours." He grimaced. "No intel on how long it was there, since tomorrow is trash day."

"Oh my God." All the breath whooshed out of me. Tank's statement was just wrong on so many levels. Carmen was crazy as hell, but she didn't deserve to die.

My eyes widened as the pieces fell into place for me. "Don't tell me, there was a note in her pocket that said 'Ranger did it.'"

Ranger's mouth twitched. "Not exactly."

"But the commonwealth of Virginia thinks he's married to her," Lester added helpfully. "Doesn't the husband always do it?" He was right, but I'd bet good money that it was her _other _husband – the one she'd actually met.

"That's the butler, dumbass," Ranger muttered. "My lawyer is delivering our files on Scrog and Carmen to our contact at the PD, but for now, I'm laying low." He locked eyes with me. "So that I'm free to look for Julie."

My cheeks burned in shame. Of course he wasn't just sitting around on his ass. This was a man who ran safety drills just for fun and I wasn't sure he ever actually slept. "Great." I stood up and tugged my T-shirt and jacket back into place. "Give me an assignment and I'll get out there."

Tank, Lester and Ranger exchanged long, significant looks, and shook their heads. I plopped back down and waited for one of them to speak; these little RangeMan ESP sessions never ended in good news.

Lester must have lost the mental argument because he sighed and consulted his iPad. "We found his hidey-hole down on Stark about an hour ago." None of us bothered to point out that was just about when Scrog had been kidnapping Julie from her school. _What a freaking mess._

He stared at the ceiling for several long seconds before he spoke again. "He was long gone, but he left a bunch of stuff behind, including a couple of months' worth of surveillance photos."

I took the iPad from him and stared in disbelief at the screen. There were a couple of shots of a dim, dirty room that held only a mattress on the floor and a rickety table and chair in the corner. Most self-respecting rats wouldn't set up shop in there. But what made the bile rise in my throat were several close ups of the far wall.

"Oh God, she's been his target for months!" The bastard had been following me and Julie. There were photos of us shopping, at the beach, and even one with Ranger, Julie and I leaving her birthday party. And if that wasn't creepy enough, he'd drawn bullseyes on the heads of any man that was in the photo with us, and he'd devoted a whole section of the wall to shots of me in my swim suit.

Tank cleared his throat. "I think you're missing the point, little girl. There are plenty of photos of just you, so you're a likely target, too."

Spots danced in front of my eyes as all of the breath seemed to squeeze out of my lungs. Someone – probably Ranger – shoved my head down between my knees and told me to breathe. After several moments, my head cleared and I was able to sit up again.

"So I'm on lock down. Here." I made it a statement, not a question. Normally, I'd be whining or trying to figure out how to make a break for it, but life had just delivered me a big helping of grow the fuck up. If my staying put freed up more men to look for Julie, then so be it. Plus, those bikini shots were really creepy.

The guys just stared at me, so I stood and dusted off my hands briefly. "I get it, no wandering off by myself. But…." I glared at them each in turn. "Give me something to do. There's no way I'm just sitting around on my ass while that crazy bastard has my little girl."

I felt my cheeks burn when I realized what I just said. "I mean – I mean, Julie," I stammered.

Ranger stood and pressed a kiss into my forehead. "I know what you meant, Babe." He nodded to Lester once, and then he and Tank were gone.

The next few hours passed in a blur. Lester set me up with a laptop at the dining table and I got to work on background checks. My butt usually went to sleep after about thirty seconds of any sort of computer work, but I attacked the list of Scrog's known associates like they were the last pair of FMPs in my size at Macy's semi-annual sale. I didn't even care if it was mostly busy work – it kept me sane, sort of.

So, I ran searches. I made coffee. Ella brought food and supplies, so I helped make sandwiches. I even laid out sleeping bags in a couple of the upstairs room for the men as they trickled in and out for fuel and a couple of hours of sleep. As far as I could tell, Ranger and Tank had most of the men on rotating, four-hour shifts. I wasn't sure who was running the main office and I really didn't care.

Around midnight, I finally decided I wasn't getting anywhere doing searches on Scrog's third cousins, so I stumbled into the first floor bedroom. I barely took the time to kick off my shoes and jeans, and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. At some point, I could've sworn Ranger slid under the covers and pulled me to him, but since I was alone when the alarm went off, I figured I must've dreamt the whole thing.

And if it wasn't a figment of my imagination, I was just too damn numb to care. Even finally figuring out why Ranger always smelt so good didn't penetrate my fog. It's his body wash, by the way. I was so worried about Julie that wet Ranger and the whole bottle of heavenly smelling Bvlgari shower gel wouldn't have woken up my hormones.

Not knowing what else to do, I threw on the T-shirt and jeans Ella had brought me, and went back to work. The morning went much like the night before. Ella brought food, we all took turns making coffee, and I ran searches. I slowly went insane.

Over the last few days, we'd slowly built a picture of just who the hell Edward Scrog was. As far as the guys could figure, he'd been a security guard at a mall Ranger and Tank had done a takedown at the year before. No one knew why, but he'd decided that keeping teenagers from loitering around the food court wasn't the life for him and he'd tried to step into Ranger's, instead. Well, he'd at least taken up bounty hunting under Ranger's name, and Ranger's sources had confirmed that six months ago, he'd married Carmen Sanchez. Who was now very, very, dead. I knew his mother's maiden name and that his cousin Billy couldn't stand him. But all of that didn't tell me where he had Julie or how to get her back.

I'd just flopped onto the bed in my thinking position when I heard the faint sounds of 'Enter Sandman' coming from the nightstand. My phone had only rang twice in the last twenty-four hours when my mom and Mary Lou had called. They'd promised to head off the Burg gossips for me and it had been silent ever since. Until now. I snatched up my phone and stared at the display – it was a blocked number. Normally, this meant someone wanted to sell me a timeshare in Florida, but something kept me from sending it to voicemail.

"Hello?" I asked hesitantly as my spidey senses went haywire. The line was silent for several seconds and then I heard what was possibly the creepiest seven words, ever.

"You've been a very bad mother, Stephanie."

I swallowed, hard. "Who is this? How did you get my number?"

His soft, low laugh did nothing to calm my stomach. "Your daughter gave it to me."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I'd never anticipated something like this when I'd had Julie memorize my number. "If you've hurt her…."

"Why would I hurt my own child?" He asked, with just the slightest edge of hurt tingeing his voice. "But it's time you came home to us."

Oh. My. God. He was a freaking psycho. "You could always bring her to me." I rolled off the bed and started for the door. Surely Les or Silvio could trace the call.

He laughed again. "You seriously don't think I'm stupid, do you? And if you try to alert any of those idiots who work for _him_, I'll have to punish Julie again."

I stopped dead in my tracks as a feeling of dread settled in my stomach. "What did you do to her?" I whispered.

"Nothing much, yet, _Babe_." He paused. "But if you don't come to us now, I'll have to do something a little more serious than send our girl to bed without her dinner."

I fought the wave of nausea that threatened to take over me. "What do you want me to do?"

"I knew you were smart." He laughed a third time and I really wished that we were in the same room – so that I could shove his balls halfway up to his throat. "It's 3 PM, now. Meet me on Olive off of North Stockton in ten," he said, naming a residential street a couple of blocks from US 1. "I'll know if you're followed." His voice hardened. "If you want to keep Julie safe, you won't even try."

After he hung up, I stared at the phone for several moments. It would take me every bit of those ten minutes to make it to that intersection. I knew I was about to make possibly the biggest mistake of my life, but I couldn't risk that crazy bastard hurting Julie. Moving quickly, I shoved my feet into the shoes I'd left by the bed and I grabbed my purse. It took me several precious seconds, but I finally located the tracker Tank had given me all those months ago and I shoved it down my bra.

Finally, I darted to the bedroom door and looked around. I could hear voices upstairs, but no one was in the living room. I knew for a fact that Lester and Ranger were still combing the streets and that Tank was halfway across town on Haywood, so if I could just find some wheels…

Yes! There was a set of keys on the breakfast bar. The voices were headed for the stairs, so I put my head down and ran for them. I was already out the front door before I heard the first shouts.

My phone rang when I was still several streets away. I glanced down at the display before I put the call on speaker.

"What do you think you're doing?" Tank growled.

I swallowed. "I don't have a choice. He has Julie."

The line was silent for so long that I thought the call had dropped. "Don't do this, little girl."

Yeah, it was a colossally bad idea, and I knew it. "You can't follow me, or he'll hurt her, but I have my tracker." I bit my lip and blinked back the tears that threatened to spill over. "I'm sorry," I whispered as I ended the call and powered off my phone.

I made it to the intersection with less than a minute to spare and slowed as I turned onto Olive Street. I pulled in behind a black explorer that was parked halfway down the street and cautiously walked around the SUV. It was virtually identical to one of the RangeMan fleet SUV's, down to the small black and silver RangeMan decal on the back window. As I approached the passenger door, it swung open and I saw just how he'd fooled Julie and Sister Mary Robert. It was Ranger…but not. The black T-shirt and cargoes were close to RangeMan standard issue, and his long, dark hair was slicked back into an eerily familiar ponytail. Mirrored aviators hid his eyes, and though the rest of his features weren't quite right, at a distance he'd pass for Ranger. The bastard had been hiding in plain sight all this time.

"Get in." The voice definitely wasn't the same – harsh and grating where Ranger's was smooth and deep. And there was a long scratch along his left cheek. _Good. Julie hadn't gone quietly. I hoped he had a lot more of those._

I swung up into the SUV and closed the door. "Take me to her. Now."

As a nasty grin spread over his face, my last thought was that he didn't look a thing like Ranger, anymore. And then everything went black.

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AN: I apologize for the second evil cliffie in a row, but this chapter was slow going and I wanted to get something posted tonight. I've discovered that I don't speak crazy psycho bastard very well. Which is a good thing 99.9999% of the time, except for when I'm trying to finish this story.

Shout outs to: MargaritaS, JenRar, brighteyes343, kjr54, got2BaBabeFan, Janarden, highlands girl, deviates322, erdi99, Selene Aduial, DebK, eisbehr, Anonymous, YbanormImom, caregiver, carrotmusic, Stephanie1014, bgrgrmpy, alix33, Angela Mueller, daffydbuck, shellbell78, 56 olds, RhoJ, Barb4psu, Fanfictionstalker, bkc04, and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews; they mean a lot to me.


	15. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

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Chapter 12:

Showdown

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Stephanie's POV

_I swung up into the SUV and closed the door. "Take me to her. Now."_

_As a nasty grin spread over his face, my last thought was that he didn't look a thing like Ranger, anymore. And then everything went black._

I felt hands twisting in my hair cruelly, and then pulling at my clothes. I tried to fight back, but my limbs felt sluggish, leaden, and wouldn't cooperate. I felt a prick on my upper arm, and then everything went black again.

When I finally came to, I lay quietly for several moments, as I tried to get a feeling for my surroundings. My mouth felt like something had died in it and my head was pounding, but on the plus side, that meant I was alive, right?

Wherever I was, it was quiet, and there were no bright lights beating down on my closed eyelids. My shoulders hurt, and when I tried to move my arms, I realized that they were secured behind me, the metal of the handcuffs biting into my wrists. I cautiously opened first one eye and then the other. The lighting was dim, but I slowly realized that I was lying on my side on my old bed, in my old apartment.

When I'd dragged my feet about subletting or giving it up, I'd never once thought it would become my prison. There was a warm, breathing body at my back, and as I struggled to turn on my other side, relief flooded through me. Julie was with me.

"Steph," she said softly when she realized that I was awake. "I'm scared."

God, so was I. I shimmied closer to her so that I could whisper in her ear. "I know, baby girl, but I need you to be very brave and very quiet for me." She nodded, so I continued. "Are you hurt?"

"No," she whispered. "I spit out most of the pills he gave me."

I closed my eyes in relief. "I'm so proud of you," I whispered back as I visually checked her over for myself. She was wearing pink pajamas instead of her school uniform, but she looked otherwise unharmed.

_Wait a minute._ I looked down at myself as best as I could and with a sinking feeling, I realized that I wasn't wearing my original clothes either. Someone – and I really, really didn't want to think about who – had changed me into a tank top and soft flannel pants. I didn't think I was wearing a bra, and if I focused, I could feel a faint throbbing along my left breast, almost as if someone had grabbed it roughly.

_Goddamn it, crap on a cracker. _He must've found the tracker and he hadn't been happy about it. Well there went plan A, and I hadn't had time to think of a plan B. I looked over Julie again as I thought furiously. Scrog had tied her hands in front of her, so at least her circulation wasn't likely to be cut off. He'd taken both of our shoes, and anything that could be remotely used as a weapon, but… wait. I'd braided her hair the morning before, and now it was in barrettes. The thought of that creep changing Julie into jammies and brushing her hair was enough to make me want to throw up in my mouth, but it gave me an idea. And a sliver of hope.

"Julie, do you remember that game Uncle Lester taught you? With the locks?" I whispered against her ear. I'd wanted to kill Lester when he'd taught her to pick locks, foreseeing a future with Julie in Juvie, but if he were here now, I'd kiss him.

She nodded, so I continued. "See if you can reach one of your hair things." She fumbled and dropped it, but on the second try, she had an unfolded barrette, much like Lester had used to teach her B&amp;E 101. "Great, baby. Now see what you can do about these cuffs." I shimmied back over onto my other side and felt her hands begin to hesitantly work at my wrists.

It probably only took about five minutes, but it felt like an hour before I felt the bracelet around my right wrist loosen. I brought my arms back to my sides and sighed with relief. Rolling over was much easier and I'd managed to loosen get the knot on her bonds loosened when I suddenly heard heavy footsteps coming from the living room. _Shit! _I'd just whispered to Julie to keep still and rolled back to my original position when the bedroom door slowly creaked open.

"No use faking, Stephanie, You should be awake by now."

I took care to leave my hands behind my back as I rolled over on my back to hide them. I said a quick prayer that he wouldn't notice my hands were free and slowly opened my eyes.

"There are those baby blues," he said as he walked closer to my side of the bed. In the low light, he looked eerily like Ranger, but I'd never seen such a cold, cruel smile on Ranger's face.

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. "What do you want, Scrog?" I tried to sound a lot braver than I felt, and it must've worked because the smile instantly disappeared.

"Don't you ever call me that," he hissed as he grabbed me by the chin. "My name is Ranger, or Ricardo if you start behaving," he told me as his lips spread in a slow, lazy grin. He leaned down toward me until I could feel his breath on my cheeks. It was foul, and smelled of stale onions. "I could even be persuaded to forget about the tracker you tried to sneak in, if you started treating me nice."

Oh. Ick. If it weren't for that gun on his hip, I'd be seeing how he felt about a knee to his boys. But instead of doing what I really wanted to do, I schooled my features into what I hoped was an appropriately contrite expression. "I'm really sorry, I'll try to do better," I lied. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

He dropped his hand and stood back a couple of steps. "I want us to start acting like a family."

I licked my suddenly dry lips. Nothing in my life to this point had prepared me to talk down a psycho. "What about Carmen?" I asked desperately, trying to distract him from any thoughts of me and Julie being anything to him.

His smile grew cruel, again. "She was just a distraction, dear. I hope you can forgive me, just like I plan on forgiving you your dalliances with _him_."

_What? _"Who do you mean?" I asked, though I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew.

He looked at me pityingly. "Who do you think I mean?" He sighed as he began to caress the butt of his handgun, almost absentmindedly. "I'll even forgive you living with him, since all couples have their problems." He smiled, and it was pure evil. "When I finally take care of him, we'll be able to move on, together."

No! I felt Julie tense against me, and I wished I could comfort her. What could I say to the crazy person who was threatening to kill her father? I swallowed, hard. "I still don't understand."

"I know you're smarter than that, sweetheart, but I'll tell you anyway," he said with a smirk. "A message will be delivered to one of his pet gorillas in a couple of hours, telling him exactly where to find you and the little _chica_." He shrugged. "I'll throw down the gauntlet, so to speak, and I fully intend to win."

Hell no. Not if I could help it. "You really don't have to trouble yourself with him," I told him as I said a quick prayer for forgiveness. Whose, I wasn't sure. "You're right, he means nothing to me, and I'd rather just leave with you right now," I lied. _If he'd just turn his back, I could try to take him down._

His gaze sharpened, suspiciously. "It's sweet of you to worry about me, but really, it's no trouble at all." He turned slightly as a chime sounded in the other room, and I tensed as I waited for my chance.

"Son of a bitch!" He cursed as he pulled out his phone and checked the screen. "Did he really think he could sneak up on me?" His eyes lit with unholy glee. "Well, it looks like I'll get my wish sooner, rather than later, sweetheart."

I think I finally knew real terror as his meaning sunk in – at the exact moment that a tingling sensation started along the back of my neck. One of the people I cared most about in the world was shut in here with me, and a madman with a gun, and the other was just outside, about to walk into an ambush.

I heard the locks tumble, and then a familiar voice called through the door. "Send them out, Scrog, or I'll make you."

Most of the time, I'd be happy to hear Ranger's voice, but not right now. I moved to open my mouth to scream, but I got a sharp warning nudge from Jules. Yeah – maybe I shouldn't distract Batman.

Scrog laughed as he thumbed through a few more screens on his phone. "You and what army? I've got eyes all over this building, and you ain't got nothing." Scrog drew his gun as the front door began to swing open. "Why don't you drop your weapon and come in nice and slow? Behave, and I won't feel the need to punish my guests." Scrog yelled as he plastered himself against the bedroom doorway.

There was a moment of silence, and then I heard something heavy fall to the floor. Scrog waited a beat, and then leveled his gun as he slipped into the living room. Not knowing what else to do, I shoved Julie over the edge of the bed and sprang toward Scrog. But I was too late.

Just as I slammed into his shoulder, he fired twice. It's funny how the best moments in your life can pass in an instant, and the worst seem to happen in slow motion. Red bloomed on Ranger's upper chest as he slowly crumpled to the ground, and Scrog laughed as he prepared to fire again. I'm pretty sure I screamed, and I know that I grabbed Scrog's arm as I tried to wrestle the weapon away from him.

We fought for who knows how long – a second, a minute, an hour. And then I was on the floor, and he still had the damn gun. I watched in horror as he leveled it again, but a small blur streaked in from the side, and next think I knew, Scrog was down, clutching his knee. I scrambled forward, and grabbed the gun that had fallen to floor.

The next few moments were a blur. Suddenly Tank, Lester and half of the Trenton PD were there, and it was over. Well, mostly.

Later I heard that Scrog fell a number of times as he was collared and escorted out of the apartment – stairs can be tricky, you know. I didn't notice, because I was kind of busy with first Ranger, and then Julie. I'd never seen so much blood before, and I really didn't want to think what Ranger would have looked like if he hadn't worn Kevlar. But thanks to Bobby, I knew that the correct thing to do was to apply pressure to the gunshot wound, instead of just screaming hysterically over the prone body of the man you love. I'm pretty sure I did both. Oh yeah – it's funny how moments of crisis can really cut through all of the bullshit. I realized then that I loved Ranger, and it wasn't any of that puppy love shit. I just didn't know what to do about it. The paramedics were right behind the cops, thank God.

I've mentioned that I'm not very good in a crisis, right? It was pretty much all I could do to clutch Julie to me as we sat on the back tailgate of the second responding ambulance, while we watched the EMTs load Ranger into the first one. Julie, proving that she was one cool customer, gave our statement to the cops. I nodded in the appropriate places, but really, I could only focus on one thought. _I loved Ranger, and my boneheaded stunt had almost got him killed. At least I hoped he'd live._

A couple of minutes after Ranger's ambulance had pulled away, Tank reached in and tucked the blanket the EMTs had given us more securely around our shoulders. "That was something else, little girl," he said gruffly.

I snorted as I adjusted my hold on Julie. "Which part? When I went after Scrog and didn't do anything but get myself kidnapped? Or maybe when I let him shoot Ranger?"

Tanks eyes narrowed to slits and he nodded once to Lester, who gently took Julie aside so that the paramedics could look her over.

Tank and I walked a short distance away. It hurt to let Julie go, but I had a feeling she didn't need to hear what he was about to say. I wondered if Tank had the power to fire me, or if I had to wait until Ranger got out of surgery.

"You did good when you sacrificed yourself so that Julie wouldn't be alone with that sick bastard. And then you did real good when you risked yourself and threw off Scrog's aim. Those were armor piercing bullets," he growled. "So just for once, could you take it easy on me and take a compliment at face value?"

I had to bite back a grin. "OK, but you do know that Julie was the one who took actually took him down?"

"Yeah, Little Ranger did good, too." He grinned then, as we walked back toward Les and Julie. "I can't wait to give RangeMan shit about how his nanny and little girl saved his ass."

"Yeah, and I insist on taking credit for teaching Julie that righteous knee strike," Lester said as he and Julie did some sort of complicated handshake.

"Don't forget about how you taught her to pick locks," I told him with narrowed eyes. I leaned in and pressed a brief kiss to his lips. "I promised myself I'd do this if we got out of there," I told him as I drew away.

"Hot damn, I'll teach her everything I know if I keep getting rewarded like that," Lester said with an eyebrow waggle.

Tank and I exchanged a long look and he smacked Lester on the back of the head. "That was a one-time thing, and you'd better not teach her anything illegal," I warned him.

I refused transport to the hospital for me and Julie, and Tank and Lester drove us to St. Francis, instead. As we rode in, I held a dozing Julie on my lap and they filled us in on everything that had happened since I'd been taken. Only Tank could summarize 4 hours in a few sentences. Yeah – that really surprised me. I'd been taken shortly after 3 PM and it was only just past dinner time.

"Bones was testing out some-micro sensors at your apartment." Was his explanation as to how they'd found us so quickly – even before Scrog could call Ranger out.

I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about RangeMan installing hi-tech surveillance equipment in my empty apartment without my permission, but at least part of me was grateful that they had. I guess that I really was employed by Batman, because he'd managed to pull together a taskforce and plan a rescue in less than two hours from the time Scrog had triggered the alarms on my front door. Which reminded me….

"Scrog had alarms and cameras of his own," I told them. "How did you sneak past them?" Ranger may have been the first one in, but the guys and the PD had been maybe a minute behind him.

"Hacked them," Tank told me succinctly, while Les went on at length about 'pissant Radio Shack crap.'

Ranger was being prepped for surgery by the time we made it to the hospital. Julie and I would've rather gone straight to the OR waiting area, but the PD and hospital staff weren't through with us. I was beyond relieved that Julie didn't have a mark on her and that it looked like Scrog had been perfectly happy to keep her drugged most of the time. That Julie had spit out most of the pills and just faked being out of it made me really proud. The kid was scary smart.

I hope to never have to endure another rape kit again, but it was negative. I'll probably have nightmares about what could have happened if the crazy bastard had gotten his way and turned me and Julie into his instant family, but it could have been so much worse. We were safe, and Ranger had been breathing on his own when they took him into surgery.

Whoever said waiting was the hardest part was right. What looked like half of RangeMan was already taking up most of the surgical waiting room by the time we got there, and I'd never been so glad to see those big lugs. They took turns hugging me and Julie, and then let us have the only couch in the room. Plus, they did a great job of keeping the busybodies away.

Ella showed up with coffee and changes of clothes for me and Julie shortly after we'd gotten there - she really is the eighth wonder of the world. Luckily, I'd gone to school with a couple of nurses and they let us into an empty room to clean up. I never wanted to be covered in Ranger's blood again, either.

Ranger's parents and his sister Celia showed up around the start of hour two, and to my shock, my mom and grandma were on their heels.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Grandma as my mother bustled in with bags full of food. I had visited my parents a couple of times after that disastrous dinner back in July, but to say that relations were strained was putting it mildly.

"Honestly, Stephanie, I'm not going to let you starve in this waiting room," my mother said as she handed me a Tupperware container of lasagna. "Take this to Julie, it's her favorite."

I forgave my mom right then and there. She maybe didn't approve of my life and my choices, but she was showing me and Julie how much she cared the only way she knew how. Food _is _love in my family. I still had to call her on her actions while Julie and Ernesto were busy polishing off the goodies she'd brought.

"What can I say, Stephanie?" She shrugged. "He loves you, and though I really wish you hadn't put yourself in danger like that, I know that you love him and Julie, too."

"Ma, I think he was there for Julie." I didn't even try to deny how I felt, though.

She patted me on the arm. "You can tell yourself that, but your cousin's husband was right there when Mr. Mañoso was getting ready to go into your apartment. Eddie's no fool, so if he says that man loves you, then he does. Of course, that means I expect him to make an honest woman of you, now."

That was so not what I wanted to think about right now. I decided to just go back to Julie before she could start planning the wedding and baby showers. The rest of the wait wasn't so bad. The guys polished off the sandwiches and coffee cake Mom had brought, Julie dozed off on my lap, and Grandma was, well Grandma.

"Where did he get shot, again?" She asked me as she sat on the sofa with us. We were alone, because for some reason none of the RangeMen liked to be within touching distance of her.

"His right upper chest and shoulder, I think." Bobby, the medic, had told me that the bullets had cracked a rib and his collarbone, but nothing vital had been hit.

"Good, I'm glad it wasn't a groin shot," she said with a Lester-worthy eyebrow waggle. "That package of his is too good to waste." Mom took her home shortly after that.

Sometime after 10 PM, the surgeon came out and conferred with Bobby and Ranger's parents. When Ernesto flashed me the thumbs up sign, I felt like I could finally breathe again.

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Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter: Jules3677, hummer246, Selene Aduial, erdi99, Angie, First Generation Scot, ampk, Angela Mueller, Fanfictionstalker, mjsmama, Margaret aka whymelucylu, JenRar, shellbell78, daffydbuck, alix33, Anonymous, jkgk, av981638, annalynn88, Barb4psu, got2BaBabeFan, carrotmusic, Stephannie1014, RhoJ and guest reviewers.


	16. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

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Chapter 13

Come together

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Ranger's POV

The first thing I noticed as I started to come to was the faint sound of beeping, and then that astringent smell that meant only one thing. I was in a hospital. _Well it sure as hell beat being dead, _I thought as I continued to assess my condition. When I flexed my hand, I could feel the drag of the IV line. The faint edge of pain I felt as I tried to move first one arm, and then the other told me that Brown had done his fucking job and kept them from giving me the really good pain meds. I hate how loopy I get on morphine.

I finally opened my eyes, and when I turned my head, I felt every bit of tension inside of me drain away when possibly the most beautiful sight in the world greeted me. My Babe and my daughter were curled up in a chair, asleep, a few feet from the bed. The two people I cared most about were with me, and they were safe. I just lay there for several minutes, marveling at how good they looked together, with Babe's light brown curls blending into Julie's darker hair as my daughter slept in her lap.

Steph must've felt me staring, because her eyes slowly cracked open, and I saw them widen when she realized that I was awake. She carefully slid out from under Julie and closed the few feet that separated us.

She smiled tenderly down at me. "Ranger, you look like shit, and I'm so glad to see you."

I choked out a laugh and then gasped as pain radiated through me. I was going to have to watch that; it felt like I had a busted rib. "I feel like it. What time is it?" I croaked. _Shit_, had the doctors dumped sand in my mouth while they were fixing me up?

"It's after midnight. Shh," she soothed as grabbed a cup off of the side table and held the straw to my lips. "You know the drill, just a sip." When I'd had enough, she took the water away. "Better now? How are you?"

How did I feel? Physically… "I'll live," I rasped out. Emotionally… I glanced from her to Julie. "Are you both OK?" When she nodded, I grabbed for her hand. "Seriously, don't lie to me, Babe."

"I promise – there's not a scratch on her. Or me," she quickly added when I just raised my eyebrows. "He kept Julie drugged most of the time and he didn't have time to do anything before you got there." She smiled again and smoothed my hair back from my brow. "You saved us."

"That piece of shit never should've gotten within a hundred miles of either of you." I dropped her hand and looked away. "I told you in the beginning that you and Julie had targets on your backs because of me. Sometimes, I wish…." I couldn't say it, but we both knew that they would've been safer far, far away from me.

Cool, slender fingers grasped my chin and she tugged until I was looking at her again. Her gorgeous blue eyes were cold as ice. "Look Ranger, you can fire me in the morning if that's what you want, but you're going to listen to me tonight," she whispered. She leaned down until we were almost nose to nose. "You are not going to push that precious baby girl away. You need her as much as she needs you." Her eyes narrowed. "We both know that you could've sent her to live with your parents in the first place if that wasn't true."

Babe pulled back, slightly. "So this is what's going to happen. I'm going to wake up your daughter and you're going to tell her that you love her. Then I'm going to call the nurse, like I should've five minutes ago, and take Julie home for some sleep."

_Dios. _If I were at all capable, I'd be hard as a rock right now. She was that impressive. But the flesh was exceedingly weak, so I just nodded dumbly.

She grinned sheepishly. "It's been a long night, and there are a whole lot of people who want to see you."

It went just like Steph had decreed. She woke Julie up and brought her to my bedside. We hugged, sort-of, since my right arm was strapped down tightly to my side.

"I love you, daddy," she whispered against my neck.

I froze in shock. Julie had never called me anything but Ranger. "I love you, too, _mija._" I whispered as I blinked back tears. I met Steph's gaze over Julie's head and she was blinking pretty hard, too.

Babe was absolutely right about one thing. I could never push Julie away, now.

R&amp;S~R&amp;S~R&amp;S

It had been three days and eleven hours since I'd woken up in the hospital, and Stephanie had been avoiding me. I'd used the downtime to take stock and consider my options, but now I was home and I didn't intend to spend any more time waiting for her to come around.

So, I made plans, informed Tank that I wasn't to be disturbed for anything less than a matter of national security, and then I went to claim my woman. And I convinced myself that sneaking into her apartment through the connecting door from Julie's room wasn't creepy, it was just strategy.

I found her in the living room, feeding Rex. God, I'd missed everything about her– including how she lounged around in those soft, clingy pants and tops, and the way she could carry on whole conversations with what was essentially a short-tailed rat.

When I cleared my throat, she started and whirled to face me. "Jesus, Ranger, aren't you supposed to be resting?" She nervously rubbed at the back of her neck. "Uh, Marisol took Julie to lunch."

"I know, I asked her to," I told Stephanie as I stalked toward her. The way she blushed as I moved into her personal space stroked my male ego in ways that I really didn't want to examine right then.

"It wasn't easy to let her go," she confessed softly.

"I know. Tank had to talk me into sending only two teams with them, but Mama wanted some quality time with Julie." I leaned in, until my lips just brushed the top of her curls. "I wanted to talk to you."

She backed up a couple of steps until her back hit the breakfast bar. "I guess I should give you that apology I've been practicing."

I wasn't sure what she had to apologize for, so I just led with the question I'd been waiting three days to ask. "Why did you leave me that night, in the hospital?"

She twisted her hands, nervously. "Julie needed to rest, but I brought her back to visit you. Twice a day!"

I planted my hands on the bar on either side of her, so that she was loosely caged within my arms. "But you didn't bring you," I growled in her ear.

"I didn't think you'd want to see me," she mumbled as she stared fixedly down at her hands.

I blew out a breath. "Steph, Babe, please look at me." When she did, I was torn between wanting to hug her and wanting to nip and suck at her lower lip. Surely she'd figured out by now what her chewing on that perfect, pink bit of flesh did to me. I did neither, and led her over to the couch instead. "Why would you think that?"

"Julie was kidnapped on my watch," she began slowly. She eased forward until she was perched on the edge of the sofa cushion, almost as if she was preparing for a quick getaway. "Maybe that wasn't one-hundred percent on me, but then I broke my promise and ran off and got myself kidnapped too."

Shit, I'd hoped to save this conversation for later. "Maybe I should share some things I've worked out over the last couple of days." I reached over and tilted her chin upward until our eyes met. "The only person responsible for kidnapping Julie is rotting in a jail cell right now." I was pretty pissed about that, since he belonged in a pine box, but it was what it was. "And it blows me away that you didn't hesitate to put yourself on the line for Julie."

"You almost died, and Julie could've gotten shot." she mumbled.

So that's what this is about. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I read the reports, Babe. I'm alive because you and Julie saved me." Tank had been giving me hell about it, but I figured he was just jealous. My daughter and Steph are remarkable.

"So you're really not mad at me for everything that happened?"

God, she was adorable when she scrunched her brow like that. "No, but I was fucking terrified," I said, only slightly jokingly. "Promise me you'll never put yourself in danger like that again," I told her sternly. She was biting her lip again so I almost didn't follow her next words.

"I can't promise that," she mumbled.

Oh hell no – there was no way that I was going through that again. I thought I'd felt real fear and helplessness when Julie had been taken, but then Steph _and _Julie had both been in the hands of that crazy fuck. Tank had had the tranq gun ready until I'd finally agreed to stand down until we could throw together a half-assed rescue plan. I'd come way too close to just storming in there without backup.

I never wanted to feel that way again, ever, so the only solution was that both of my girls had to stay as safe as possible.

Steph ran her soft little hand over my brow. "Hey, your face will freeze like that, if you're not careful." She was silent for several long seconds. "I won't do anything like that again unless it's a matter of life or death," she offered.

"Julie said the same thing." I groaned. "You're both conspiring to drive me crazy, aren't you?"

Her lips quirked in an impish grin. "I couldn't say." After a few beats, she sobered. "So if you didn't come here to fire me for insubordination, what did you want to talk about?"

Well, this was my opening, but I chickened out at the last second. "Ron called me a couple of days ago." Julie's kidnapping had made the national news, and though I'd taken steps to squelch the story, it had still gotten out.

"What?" she screeched, surprising me. "He can't just swoop in and take her away after he threw her away," she said fiercely. "I don't care what he says, but she belongs here with us. Uh, with you," she amended quickly.

"Relax, Babe. Julie's not going anywhere." I didn't even try to stop the grin that spread over my face. Maybe this would be easier than I thought it would be - it was clear how much Steph loved _mija_. "I had full parental rights restored to me over a year ago. Ron just wants to visit."

"Oh," she said quietly. "I think she'd like that."

I gave into temptation and reached out to tuck a curl behind her ear. "But you're wrong about one thing, Steph. She's yours, too."

I couldn't hold back anymore, so I just wrapped my good arm around her waist and hauled her against me until my ribs protested. "You've proved it many times over this past week," I said softly as I laid my lips on hers. Babe and I had kissed before – and for one incredible weekend we'd done a lot more, but this time it felt different. This time it wasn't just about lust and I wasn't just promising a night. I was promising forever.

One kiss melted into another, and I was just trying to figure out how to carry her to bed with a busted shoulder and rib when she finally moaned and drew away.

"God, I'm going to hate myself for this, but we promised no more hanky-panky, Ranger. No more games." Her eyes were a little wistful and sad, but the tilt of her chin said that she was serious.

_Damn_, I knew I'd skipped something. "This isn't a game babe. Julie needs you, and I need you." I leaned in for another taste of her lips, but Steph had other ideas.

"Hold it right there, Mr. Mañoso." She planted her fingers on my mouth, holding me back. "If you weren't held together by enough wire and pins to start a hardware store, I'd belt you in the mouth right now."

OK, I didn't need an advance degree to figure out that I'd messed up. I just wasn't sure what I'd done. "Babe?"

"Don't _Babe_ me, Ranger." She slipped away from me and regarded me with narrowed eyes. "You don't have to romance me to keep me on as Julie's nanny, so please don't insult me like that." Her voice softened, slightly. "After this week, you'll be lucky if you can pry me away from her when she's ready for college."

"OK." That suited me just fine, though I was hoping she'd stick around until at least the great-grandchildren went to college. When she just huffed out a disgusted breath, I realized that I was actually going to have to lay it all out there. "Steph, I don't want you to be Julie's nanny anymore." When a hurt look clouded her expression, I stopped and sighed. "Wait," I said quickly as I gently grasped her wrist to keep her on the couch. "I realized something when I was outside your old apartment the other day. I love you."

I took a deep breath. "I'm in love with you and I want to be with you in every way that a man can be with a woman." When her expression cleared, I bit the bullet and continued, praying that I was saying the right thing. "And though I love that you love Julie, the way I feel about you has very little to do with what a brilliant nanny you've been."

She swiped under each eye, discreetly. "Ranger. I-"

_Shit. Were those good tears or bad tears? Why didn't women come with a manual?_ I pitched my voice low in the way that usually made her nipples harden. "Though, I have to admit that the sight of you helping Julie with her science homework the other week was pretty damn hot."

She rolled her eyes and giggled. "We got the recipe wrong – I was covered in slime!"

"I know," I said as snaked my arm around her waist again. She came right to me, so I figured I was doing something right. "I could see right through that little T-shirt you were wearing."

She was laughing harder now, so I took advantage and kissed her, long and deep. When we broke apart, I rested my forehead against hers. "I don't need an answer right now Babe, but I'm hoping you're open to seeing where a relationship between us might lead." Hopefully it would lead straight to the altar, but I didn't think she was ready for that, yet. Hell, I wasn't, either, but maybe someday.

She let out a shaky laugh. "I don't have to think about it, Ranger. I love you, too."

And then she muttered something about her mother being right, for once. I decided I wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole, and focused on the important part. _She loved me._ But before I could start celebrating that bit of news, she pulled back again.

"Wait…. You told me you didn't do relationships."

I sighed. "A lot of my reasons are still valid." I gently touched my finger to her lips. "Please, hear me out, Babe. This last week has proven that I have enemies that wouldn't hesitate to take you and Julie out just to mess with me."

"He was bat-shit insane," she reminded me.

"Yeah, he was, Babe." The sad truth was, my other enemies were saner, but a lot deadlier. "I've done a lot bad shit in my life that makes me a bad bet for the long term, but I can't make myself stay away anymore." I brushed my lips over hers once, twice. "I want you too much."

"Just so I understand…" She pressed a brief kiss to my lips. "You love me, I love you, and you want to try a real relationship with me? No games, no sneaking around, and the occasional date?"

I felt myself grin. "That sounds about right. No games, Babe, but I'm hoping for plenty of hanky-panky."

She snorted. "I'm trying to be serious for a minute. You want me, but you think your past makes you not worthy somehow?"

I shrugged. I knew I didn't deserve her or Julie.

"Then tell me." Her gaze grew determined. "Tell me what you mean by 'bad shit' and let me decide for myself."

No. "Stephanie. There's a whole lot that I _can't _tell you." This was partially true, but if I told her anything, this would be the shortest relationship in history.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah, I know – classified, you could tell me, but you'd have to kill me, yadda, yadda, yadda." She stood and held her hand out to me. "I've heard enough talk in the break room to know that there's a lot you _can _tell me, so I'll make you a deal. I'll get you all comfy in bed, and I'll ask you three questions." She grinned down at me impishly. "I'll answer them, too."

"You'll lie down with me?" It wasn't how I'd imagined getting her in my bed, but I'd take it while I could get it.

She took my hand in hers. "I will. Trust me, Ranger. Nothing you could say will change my mind."

I wasn't so sure that was true, but I've never been able to resist an assertive woman. Babe was calling me on my shit, and I liked it.

When we were settled in my bed, and Steph had decided I had enough pillows behind my back, she turned toward me, expectantly. "What's the stupidest thing you did when you were a kid?"

That wasn't the question I was bracing for, but I'd agreed. "I boosted a car when I was fourteen, and landed in juvie."

She huffed out a breath. "I should've known you would go for the shortest possible answer. Why don't you tell me the long version?"

So I did. I told her about the crowd I'd ran with, and how I'd felt when my parents had sent me to live with my grandmother in Florida. "I know they did it to keep me out of the gang, but…."

"But you felt like they didn't want you anymore," she said quietly.

I looked up in surprise, because that was exactly it.

She shrugged. "It wasn't quite the same because it was only half an hour away, but I was banished to my Aunt Tootie's after my, er, run-in with Morelli."

That was just another thing that I had to punish that pendejo for.

She pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I don't know if it helps, but your Mom has this huge brag book for you – and she's still adding to it. They _are_ proud of you."

Intellectually I'd known my mother loved me because she gave birth to me. But no, I hadn't thought she was proud of me.

She grinned, then. "OK – my turn now. I bet your background check didn't cover the time I tied a bath towel around my neck and tried to fly off of the garage roof."

It hadn't, and I hoped to hell Julie never heard that story. Though it was more likely she'd build a jet pack and attempt to skateboard off of the roof.

The next question still wasn't what I'd expected. Her biggest relationship screw-up wasn't Morelli. It turned out that her background report hadn't covered her walking in on her ex screwing Joyce Barnhardt on her dining room table, either. I'd be tempted to teach her ex a lesson, too, but she'd done an excellent job of it on her own. Call me sick, but the thought of her making a bon-fire out of Dickie Orr's belongings is kind of hot.

Mine wasn't so cut and dried. I could never regret Julie, but I did regret every other moment of my relationship with Rachel. I'd been a dick to seduce an innocent 18-year old.

"At least you married her and didn't write about it on half of the men's rooms walls in Miami," Steph told me.

True, but I still didn't deserve a medal.

Her final question was the one I'd been dreading. What fed my nightmares?

Her answer was what I'd expected – Scrog.

My answer….. I'd killed. While I'd come to accept the necessity of many of my missions, there were a few that I would never be able to forgive myself for. I could still hear the screams of those Afghani villagers sometimes. Orrin may have set the fire, but the rest of us hadn't stopped it. We'd helped him cover it up and completed our objective. We'd destroyed a munitions depot, but the human price on that mission had been way too high.

She was silent for the longest two minutes of my life. Just when I was sure that she'd pull away, she leaned into my good side a little more. "I hate that you were forced to do those things in the service of this country," she said, softly. "But everything you've just told me just proves to me that you're a good, moral man."

"My moral code isn't always consistent with the law," I warned her. Some of what I and RangeMan did was legally gray, but to me, morally right. Not everyone was comfortable with that.

She chuckled. "Meh, I'm not sure mine is, either. Did I mention that I set fire to Dickie's Dodge Viper?" She sobered, abruptly. "An immoral man wouldn't have regrets. I've watched you for months, with your men and Julie, and I've seen what you were willing to do keep us all safe." She shot me a sly grin. "And don't think I haven't heard about how the shelter and the kid's club down around Stark get free security. You'll never be able to convince me that you aren't a good man."

She sat up on her knees and leaned in until her lips hovered over mine. "If you still want me, I'm yours. As long as you realize that means you're mine, too," she whispered.

_Hell yeah, I wanted her_. I was stunned by her acceptance, but her words were all I needed to close the last few millimeters that separated us. My Babe still wanted me, and to think that all I'd had to do was man up, and come clean about some of the worst shit I'd ever done. It had been the hardest thing I'd ever done, but for the first time, I could actually see a real future for us.

I nudged her around until she was straddling my legs and finally sealed our lips together. I'd felt the absence of her kisses over the last few weeks – like a missing limb, and I was determined to take my time, tasting, touching and loving her. But when she began to slowly grind against me, I couldn't resist her unspoken invitation.

"Wait," she gasped as I began to slide her camisole up over her head. "Julie should be home any minute now!"

"Didn't I mention that my parents are keeping her through dinner, too, Babe?"

Her eyes narrowed to slits. "You were pretty sure of yourself, weren't you?"

I shook my head. "No, but you can't blame me for being hopeful, can you?"

Her gaze softened. "No, but I don't think this is what your doctor meant by bed rest, either." She moved to get off of me, but I clamped my left arm around her waist.

I followed her eyes downward. My right arm was in a sling and yeah, I sort of resembled a mummy between my mid-chest and hips. I'd had worse. "Relax, Babe, this just means we'll need to get a little creative." I slowly dragged her forward with my good arm and rolled my hips upward, grinding into her sweet center until she was gasping for breath. If my ribs weren't exactly happy with me, it was worth it. "You'll just have to do all of the work."

Her lips lifted in a slow lazy smile, and she looked down at me with dark, love drunk eyes. "Well," she said huskily, "I've always been a hard worker."

* * *

AN: And this is how I wish Twelve Sharp had ended. I envision a short outtake and an epilogue to tie up loose ends. Thanks for everyone who has followed me on this journey.

Shout outs to: Janarden, daffybduck, carrotmusic, caregiver, Selene Aduial, got2BaBabeFan, highlands girl, Stephanie1014, jules3677, bgrgrmpy, 56 olds, Barb4psu, shellbell78, Angie, jkgk, Anonymous, annalynn88, Margaret, RhoJ, erdi99, alix33, DebK, First Generation Scot, Fanfictionstalker and guest reviewers. Thanks for your reviews.


	17. Chapter 13 outtake

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: I had originally thought to include this conversation in the hospital waiting room scene, but I decided even my Joe Morelli wouldn't be that tacky. **

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Chapter 13. 5

Don't call me Cupcake

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Stephanie's point of view

I slid the shoe onto my foot and rotated my ankle from side to side. Hmmm. The black sling-back pump was cute, with its 4 inch heel and the detailing on the toe, but it wasn't quite right. It was only a couple of days until my and Carlos' one month anniversary, and I wanted to knock his socks off.

I smiled as I began to dig through the pile of boxes at my feet. It was amazing what a difference just a few weeks had made. Oh, Julie and I were still tight, in fact, she'd accepted my relationship with her father without a blink. The big difference was that while Ranger was still the hottest thing on two legs, I'd fallen irrevocably in love with the man behind the badass image. The memory of the first time he'd looked into my eyes and asked me to call him Carlos still gave me the shivers.

I had rejected all but two pairs of FM pumps when a particularly nasal voice grated over my nerves.

"Hey Cupcake, you ditch the kid or something?"

I took my time putting a pair of kitten heels back in its box before I finally turned my attention to the interloper. "Lucky for you, Morelli, she's in school. You should see what she's learning in karate right now," I said with just a hint of an evil grin.

He blanched and shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortably. "You got a minute to talk?"

I saw Cal start toward us out of the corner of my eye and I warned him off with a look. I didn't need his help to take out the trash. Joe followed our exchange, and I could tell by the look of disgust on his face that he wasn't going to keep his opinions to himself.

"Jesus, it's true. I'd heard you're with Mañoso now." He shook his head in disbelief. "If you're smart, you'll run the other way before you find out how crazy he is. He has his goons following your every move now, but if you're not careful, you'll find yourself chained in his basement."

That brought up some pretty delicious memories, but Joe was wrong – I wasn't the one who'd been chained to the bed. I finally corralled my wayward thoughts and regarded him coolly. "The only goon I see around here is you. That's my friend you're referring to."

Joe glanced dismissively over at where Cal stood glaring at him. "Yeah, I just bet he's your shopping buddy."

Actually… "We're shopping for his mother's birthday, next." Ranger and I had argued over my protection detail at first, but with the Scrog fiasco fresh in our memories, we'd come to a compromise. I got more training, and carried my gun. His concession was that when it was just me, my RangeMan escort was in plain clothes and volunteered for the duty. My outings with Julie and trips to and from school were much the same as always. Well, we were both a little paranoid now, so there was a permanent team at her school now.

So far, Lester, Mary Lou, and I did lunch at least once a week, I sometimes accompanied Zip or Zero to the bonds office when they picked up files, and I'd discovered that Tank was always up for a trip to the Tasty Pastry. To top it off, Hal and Cal were surprisingly easy to shop with, so driving around town with a RangeMan riding shotgun had become my new normal. The guys were even already lining up for the Christmas shopping season - apparently, their moms and girlfriends were tired of gift cards. Really, the RangeMen felt more like friends than baby sitters.

Joe was starting to sputter, so I cut him off. "But you should be the expert on bodyguard details by now," I told him as I nodded toward where the mayor's wife was working her way through her own pile of shoes. "From what I hear, Mrs. Minelli is real happy with your services."

Joe tugged at his skin-tight pants and raked his other hand through his hair nervously. "That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." He leaned forward, slightly. "I don't know how much more of this I can take, Cupcake. I'm at the end of my rope," he said quietly.

I raised both eyebrows. "What do you expect me to do about it? I'm not in the Mayor's office."

He looked furtively over at the Mayor's wife. "But we both know who made sure I pulled this shit assignment," he whispered. "Look, I just want to be a cop again. Please, Cupcake."

I regarded him silently for a minute, until he began to squirm. That extra training had paid off. Ranger was right, a well-placed silence was worth more than any number of words, sometimes. "Two things. Don't ever call me Cupcake again." When he nodded, I continued. "And, I want an apology."

"Jesus." He squirmed again. "You're the one who ran me over with your Dad's Buick."

"I apologized then, and now, I even mean it when I say that I'm sorry I broke your leg." I narrowed my eyes at him. "But you never have. You humiliated me, Joe."

He dragged his fingers through his hair several more times before he finally blew out a long breath. "I was a punk kid, and you can't tell me you didn't…"

I stopped him right there. "That's not sounding like an apology," I told him dismissively as I started to try on the last pair of shoes. Those weren't the ones, either, but I really liked the pair of strappy red sandals that I'd tried on earlier. They did great things for my legs, but would be comfortable enough for dancing. They'd also go with a little red dress I'd been waiting to spring on Carlos.

Joe stopped me when I got up to join Cal. "Wait! I was a jerk to write what I did on the bathroom walls." When I didn't say anything, he sighed and continued. "And there was no excuse for the way I spoke to you in the bakery a few months ago. I'm sorry Cup- Stephanie."

I finally smiled. "See, that wasn't so hard." I looked around and noticed that we'd drawn a small crowd. Cal was snickering into his hand, several women I recognized were texting furiously, and the Mayor's wife was glaring at us both and snapping her fingers imperiously.

"I accept your apology, and I'll see what I can do, Joe." As Morelli slunk back over to Sophia Minelli's side, I decided that I would indeed plead his case to Ranger. But maybe, I'd wait another week or three.


	18. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**Warning: This next bit may give you a toothache.**

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Chapter 14

And they lived happily….

* * *

I woke up slowly, and let myself bask between heavenly 1000-thread count sheets for a few moments before I felt around on the other side of the bed. It was empty, but then Ranger beat me out bed most mornings. He could take the 5 AM workouts; I was happy with sleeping in and jumping him in the shower sometimes.

The clock told me that it was barely 7:00 AM on a Saturday, so I decided to laze around in bed a little longer. It had been six months to the day since Carlos and I had started dating, and while there had been a number of adjustments, there'd been unimaginable joy, as well.

When we'd finally come up for air that first evening – just in time to have dinner with Julie and his parents down in Ella and Luis' apartment– I had resigned as Julie's nanny. I still took care of Julie, like before, but there was no way I could take money from my boyfriend like that without feeling like a kept woman.

Carlos hadn't been too happy when I'd started looking for a job, but Lester and Tank had stepped and offered the perfect compromise. I'd continued to help RangeMan with research and takedown planning twenty hours a week, and it was a pretty good gig. Lester was my direct boss instead of Ranger, and I was paid for my work plus one percent of the bonds on the FTAs my information brought in. It wasn't quite the ridiculous salary I'd been paid as Julie's nanny, but the RangeMan hourly rate is plenty generous, and I certainly made enough to keep me in Boston crèmes and FMPs. And it sure beat working at the button factory or personal products plant.

The icing on the cake was that I still had plenty of time for Julie, and our relationship was even stronger, now. She didn't mind sharing her dad with me and with every passing week she felt more and more like my own child.

The second adjustment had been our living arrangements. While I didn't consider myself to be traditional, I did have a strongly developed sense of Catholic guilt, thanks to my mother. We weren't married, and there was a kid in residence, therefore, I thought it was better that I remain down the hall in my own apartment. After a couple of weeks of Carlos or I tiptoeing back to our respective bedrooms in the wee hours of the morning, Julie had finally called us on it. Apparently, she was nine, not three, and Uncle Lester had explained the grownup sleepover to her. I think the only thing that'd saved him from certain death was that he hadn't seen fit to enlighten her as to exactly what grownups did on said sleepovers. When Julie had wondered why we were suddenly sharing a bed, he'd just explained that we were very close friends and wanted to spend more time together. Ranger and I had made sure that she knew the minimum age for these sleepovers was twenty-five.

It was Mary Lou who'd finally convinced me it was OK to move in with Carlos. ML had pointed out that Julie was way cooler than any kid had a right to be, and it wasn't like either of us was bed hopping. We'd both figured out pretty quickly that we'd found 'the one'. So, Rex, my shoes and I had moved in next door, and I'd given up the apartment on St. James, as well. After Scrog, it wasn't like the place had any fond memories for me. So, over the last few months, I'd discovered that Carlos was surprisingly easy to live with and my cartons of Ben and Jerry's coexisted just fine with his smoothie ingredients.

Carlos had even surprised us by renovating the seventh floor while we were in Miami for the New Year. He'd had some walls and doors moved around, and my old bedroom was turned into a game room/den for Julie. The rest of the old nanny apartment became a guest suite. If part of his motivation was to make sure I didn't change my mind about moving in, I forgave him because Julie's den is pretty awesome.

The only real knock-down, drag out argument we'd had was over security. With Scrog fresh in all of our minds, I'd agreed that we needed to step it up a little– if only to preserve Ranger and Tank's sanity. However, Carlos thought wrapping us in bubble wrap and homeschooling Julie was a good solution. That I didn't agree with him was putting it mildly.

So, Julie's school, Our Lady of Sorrows, got an upgraded security system and an excellent deal on additional security guards (free). Julie agreed to drop swim club because the Y was too hard to secure, but otherwise, life went on. She still had piano, karate and skateboarding, and she was _happy_ and safe. If we were a little more protective or leery of letting her go to her friends' houses, well, the family therapist we'd seen in the aftermath of her kidnapping thought it was pretty understandable.

I'm ashamed to say that I'd been more resistant to my own security detail. Again, ML had made me see sense. It wasn't that I objected to the security per se, because, let's face it, being kidnapped sucks. And it wasn't like I wasn't used to having guards with us when Julie and I went out. What ML had pointed out was that thanks to the Burg, I had a real problem with being scrutinized and gossiped about, and that having large, hulking guards looming over you would make anyone feel claustrophobic. So, on the advice of the therapist, I'd pulled on my big girl panties and stepped up my training some so that while I wasn't Rambo, I wasn't helpless either. And then I'd decided to not look at the RangeMen as hated babysitters, but as partners in crime, instead. If I wanted to go out when I was on my own, I'd send out a general email or yell out my destination from the elevator. It was surprising how many of these big, scary, ex-army dudes actually wanted to go shopping or to get pedicures. Well, I'm pretty sure that Lester just liked to flirt with the ladies at the nail place, but you get the idea. One place I didn't take the RangeMen to was Victoria's Secrets. Carlos had claimed exclusive rights to that errand, and we'd had some pretty hot times during and after those trips.

These compromises weren't something the old Stephanie would've ever even considered, but the life I'd lead the last six months had been more than worth it. I had Carlos to snuggle up to every night, a wonderful little girl to spend time with and I'd gained a whole building full of big brothers. I'd also gained another family, and let me tell you, the Mañoso's know how to _party._

The smell of coffee and bacon interrupted any further thoughts and I decided to investigate. In the dressing room, I found a single red rose tucked into the pocket of my robe and a note in Carlos' distinctive handwriting that said '_Happy Anniversary, breakfast is waiting.'_ Smiling, I shrugged on my pajamas and robe and went out to join my family.

The sight that greeted me reminded me of the other good thing that had come out of the last six months. The core management team had put their heads together and made some adjustments to the RangeMan operating plan. The result had been that Ranger the workaholic had slowly given way to Carlos the family man. Except for a trip to one of the other branches and three on call nights a month, come 6:30 on weeknights and after Noon on Saturdays, Carlos was all ours.

"No Dad, we need chocolate chips in the pancakes this morning," Julie was telling him. They were both in the kitchen, with Julie arranging fruit on a tray and Carlos mixing something up in a bowl.

"That stuff will kill you," he said gruffly as he added more milk to the pancake batter.

"Yeah, and eating nothing but wheat germ and tofu will kill my soul," she said with a roll of her eyes.

I barely stifled a laugh as I made my way toward them. I'd taught her well. "Hey, how about a compromise," I told Julie. "You and I'll have the yummy chocolate chip pancakes and your dad can have the plain soul killing ones." Carlos and I shared a conspiratorial look over her head. All of three of us knew that he added protein powder to the pancake recipe and that the chocolate chips were really carob, but we enjoyed the game. But, while eating healthier at home had made my jeans fit better, Ranger knew very well that Julie and I sneaked ice cream and donuts when we were out. Again, it was all part of the game.

"Put that way, maybe I'll join you. My soul is feeling a little anemic," he teased as he reached out tickled Julie. While Julie was shrieking in laughter, I pressed a smacking kiss to his cheek and made my way to the coffee pot. After I'd topped off Carlos' cup and doctored my own to my satisfaction, I reached into the fridge and got out the orange juice. That was the agreement for weekends – Carlos and Julie cooked and I handled drinks and setting the table. After a couple of near disasters at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we'd all agreed that it was safer if I stayed away from the stove.

"Hey Jules, do you want to go the skate park today?" I asked as I handed her a glass of OJ. It had been a long, snowy winter, but it was late March and the forecast looked good.

"Uh… I'm not sure," she said as she exchanged a panicked look with Ranger. "Can I let you know later?"

I hid a smile and hugged her. "Sure, sweetie." Those two were up to something, I could tell.

Breakfast was wonderful, even with the turkey bacon Carlos had substituted for the real thing. I was uncomfortably full when I finally pushed back from the table. "Well, do you guys have any plans for the rest of the day?" I asked as I began to clear the table. Julie and Ranger shared another long look but it wasn't until I returned from the kitchen that my spidey senses went off.

Carlos took the platter from my hands and drew me back to my chair. "Julie and I have something to ask you."

Both of them looked so serious, that it made me nervous. Were they going to call me on my habit of singing the shower or… "If it's about that wilderness survival trip you want to take this summer, I'm still thinking about it." If there was a Four Seasons waiting for me at the end of the trip, I might be able to make it.

Carlos smiled. "Good to know, Babe, but that's not what I wanted to ask you." And then, to my shock, he got down on one knee. "Stephanie, the day you walked in and turned our lives upside down was the luckiest day of my life. You've made our lives so much richer just by being you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I love you, Babe. Will you marry me?" Julie cleared her throat and handed him an opened jewelry box. "I mean, will you marry us?"

I had to swallow a couple of times before I could get the words out. "I love you, too," I whispered as I swiped under each eye. "Yes, I'll marry you. Both of you."

Carlos' lips spread in a full two hundred watt grin as he reached for me, but Julie had other ideas. "Steph, you didn't even look at the ring!"

I choked on a laugh. "That's because I'd say yes even if it came out of a bubblegum machine." It was true, even though I risked being thrown out of the Jersey girl union for saying it. I finally looked down at the tiny box in Carlos' hand. The center stone was a beautiful, square cut sapphire with a smaller diamond set into the band on either side.

"See, the diamonds are for me and dad, and the three colors of gold in the band are for the three of us," Julie explained as Carlos slipped the ring onto my finger. "I helped Dad design it."

"And it's perfect, sweetie." I hugged her and then I finally joined Carlos on the floor to seal my promise with a kiss. Of course, with a nine year old looking on, we couldn't let it go too far.

"So – what are we going to do to celebrate?" I asked as we both stood. "Why don't we call our families and then go out to lunch?" Of course, that particular thought had me sitting back down with a thud. "Uh, maybe we could wait to tell my mom."

Since that night at the hospital, my Mom had been surprisingly good. She'd welcomed Carlos and Julie into the family with open arms, and she only asked when we were getting married every other visit. However, I just knew that she'd immediately go into wedding planning mode and try to turn this wedding into a circus like my first one had been, with me in a poufy dress and three hundred people packed into the VFW hall while my cousin Maury's polka band played in the corner. Add in a few hundred of Carlos' relatives and it would be chaos.

"Uh… Julie and I have a proposition to run by you."

I looked up at Carlos and then over at Julie. He was uncharacteristically nervous and she was grinning and jumping up and down in place. "Oookay."

He left the room for a second and returned with a folder. He looked twice as nervous as before, which meant that this was either going to be very good or very, very bad. "We could follow your plan, or we could have the wedding tonight. It's up to you, Babe."

I leafed through wedding planning folder that someone had lovingly prepared. Since the first page was decorated with glitter and read 'The Most Awesome Wedding Ever,' I suspected Julie. But the plans had to be mostly Carlos, since every element of my idea of the perfect wedding was there – a ceremony at dusk on the beach near Point Pleasant, with just our immediate family and friends. The dress was a simple long, silk sheath, and the wedding reception was apparently going to be at my favorite seafood shack. The lobster mac and cheese is to die for. There was even going to be cake.

I looked up at Carlos in wonder. How had they planned this without me knowing? "But that was three months ago and I thought we were just playing 'what if?" We'd also been a little drunk, since it was New Year's Eve and Julie was safely tucked away in bed.

He looked down at me tenderly. "I remember everything you've ever said to me." He tucked a curl behind my ear. "So what's it going to be?"

"Yes! Let's do this," I exclaimed as I opened up my arms so Julie could barrel into them. When it was Carlos' turn I turned my head so that my lips were against his ear. "What would you have done if I'd said no?"

"I would have been very, very sad," he told me solemnly. "You know what they always say, Babe. Go big or go home."

He had me at that. He'd instinctively known that planning a wedding with both of our mothers would have driven me nuts and he'd done everything in his power to save me from that – all while giving me the wedding I'd always secretly wanted. My man was just a little bit of a control freak, and he could plan anything from a military invasion to a romantic dinner for two, but at least he used his powers for good.

After that the day flew by. Carlos and I retired to our room to, er, discuss the wedding and celebrate what was likely to be the shortest engagement in history. By 1 PM, Ella was shooing Carlos out of the apartment so that she and her sister, Margarita, could get me and Julie ready.

"Oh querida," she breathed. "None of us ever thought we'd see Carlito getting married again," Ella told me as she laid out my dress and shoes. That was a refrain that I was going to hear a lot that day – from both of our families.

By 3 PM, Julie and I were primped and polished and staring at our reflections in the mirror.

"Steph, you're so pretty!" Julie exclaimed. "Dad is going to flip when he sees you."

"I clean up pretty good," I admitted. Ella's sister had tamed my hair into soft curls that hung loosely around my shoulders and my dress was a blue so pale it was almost white. To top it off, Ella had helped me put on Carlos' wedding present – a gorgeous sapphire pendant and earring set that matched my ring. _'Your something new and blue,_' she'd told me.

"And you look like a princess," I told her as I gave her a quick squeeze. Julie had picked her dress out herself, and it was perfect for her. The dress itself was pale pink and fairly simple, but the hot pink sash had miniature skateboards and skulls appliqued on it. The wedding party section in the folder had been blank, but I'd already asked her to be my bridesmaid.

"Hey Steph, since you're marrying my dad, does that mean I can call you mom now?" she asked.

I blinked back the tears that suddenly threatened and hoped to God Margarita had used the waterproof mascara. "I'd love it if you would."

Hal brought my parents and grandma up to seven a few minutes later. As a surprise, Carlos had flown my sister, Valerie, and her daughters in from California and Mary Lou was with them, too. Well, it looked like I had my bridal party.

My mother opened up her purse and brought out a set of pearl combs. "These were your great grandmother's. She wore these on her wedding day and so did I and your grandmother."

I smiled. "I remember these." I hadn't worn them at my first wedding because Dickie's mother had wanted me to wear a tiara. "I'm sure they will bring me luck."

My mother brushed an imaginary piece of lint off of my dress. "I'm glad Carlos is finally doing right by you, but I wish you were getting married at Sacred Heart. It's tradition."

"Stop being a horse's patoot, Helen," Grandma said as she came up beside us. "This suits Stephie better than a big Burg wedding." Grandma clacked her dentures. "I hope there's dancing, because I can't wait to get my hands on some of those hunky RangeMen." Behind her, Hal paled and began to edge toward the door.

"Uh, I don't know if the Shrimp Box has room for a dance floor, Grandma." Hal shot me a grateful look, but I noticed that he still kept out of Grandma Mazur's reach.

Mom still didn't look convinced. "Grandma's right," I told her as I did my best to keep from rolling my eyes. "This suits us and we'll be married just the same, whether we rent out the VFW hall or not."

Before my mom could say anything else, Ella came bustling in. Ella really is brilliant – she had my mom, sister, and grandma corralled and cooing over the bouquets and flower girl baskets in seconds. While they were busy, I took Julie aside and introduced her to my nieces. Angie was exactly like Valerie at that age, from the top of her perfectly curled hair to the tips of her un-scuffed Mary Janes. Mary Alice was more like me. "MA wishes she was a horse," I whispered to Julie.

Julie looked over to where MA was now galloping in a circle and whinnying. "Cool."

I love my little girl. She took Angie and Mary Alice to see her room while everyone else started to drift toward the foyer for the trip back down to the garage.

My Dad patted me on the arm as he left. "You look beautiful, pumpkin, and I'm glad you're doing it this way."

I grinned. "Me, too. I bet you could even talk the Shrimp Box's manager into putting the game on in the bar for you." Maybe it wasn't exactly wedding appropriate, but my daddy hated to miss a Rangers' game and it would drive my mom batty.

I was finally left alone with ML. "You good with this?" She asked as she drew me toward the bathroom. "This was a real surprise," she said as she began to help me with gammy's hair combs.

"Yeah, but it was the nicest surprise in the world to wake up to this morning."

She chuckled. "At least I got a couple of days' notice. Hey – doesn't New Jersey have a waiting period for marriage licenses?"

I shrugged. "RangeMan works in mysterious ways." Actually, I was pretty sure that the permission slip I'd signed for Julie earlier in the week hadn't actually been for their upcoming class party. I made a mental note to read things more carefully from now on.

"You've got a good man this time. This one's going to stick, I just know it." She finished up with my hair and stood admiring her handiwork for a minute. "You're gonna knock his socks off, Steph."

I silently agreed with ML. A year ago, I'd given up on love and had sworn that I'd never marry again. Six months ago, I'd acknowledged that I'd fallen head over heels in love with Carlos and Julie, but I'd still been a little leery of taking the plunge. Today – I couldn't imagine our lives unfolding any other way.

Some jokester, I suspect Lester, had arranged for a caravan of stretch Hummers to take us to the shore. RangeMen love HumVees. We were at the beach before I knew it, and Marisol and Ernesto met us at the entrance to the beach.

"Querida, you look so beautiful!" Marisol exclaimed as she drew me into a hug. "I thought I'd never see this day, and I'm so happy Carlos and Julie found you."

I blushed and tried to distract her – because really, my family doesn't hug much, or gush. "I think I'm the lucky one."

She just smiled and pressed a lace-trimmed handkerchief into my hand. "This was mine when I married Ernesto almost thirty-eight years ago." She hugged me again. "I made a Tres Leches for the groom's cake."

I laughed and hugged her back. When I'd had dinner at her house the first time, I'd wanted to marry her Tres Leches cake. Since I'd discovered that I'd rather marry her son, this was a good compromise. After that, Ella came to pass out the bouquets and ushered everyone to their places, and Dad and I were alone, again.

My Dad squeezed my hand as my nieces, Julie, my sister and Mary Lou began their walk down the makeshift boardwalk someone had laid on the beach. Well, Mary Alice galloped. At the end of the aisle my man was waiting with Tank, Lester, Bobby, and a Justice of the Peace. Carlos was in my favorite Armani suits of his, and he looked so edible that I hoped I could make it through the ceremony before I attacked him.

And that's the story of how I married Carlos Mañoso, the love of my life. There were a couple of twists in the road, and a little mayhem, but I wouldn't have done it any differently. We were married on the beach in Point Pleasant on a Saturday in March. Our friends and family were there to celebrate with us, and the cakes were _delicious._

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AN: This went a little long, so there will be a short epilogue/outtake to follow in a day or two.

A sincere thanks to all who have read or read and reviewed this story. And to the reviewers of the last couple of chapters: Babe993, got2BaBabeFan, shellbell78, spiffytgm, daxandpat, RhoJ, trhodes9, Gavri, deviates 322, bgrgrmpy, IrishHoney, caregiver, Fanfictionstalker, Barb4psu, MnGrammaX3, Anonymous, JenRar, carrotmusic, 56 olds, jules3677, margaret aka whymelucylu, jkgk, daffybduck, Sene Aduial, katannc, alix 33 and guest reviewers– thanks for your comments and encouragement.


	19. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: The characters and their world belong to Janet Evanovich. I'm just playing with them for fun, and all mistakes are my own.**

**AN: If Ranger is speaking in italics, assume he's speaking in Spanish.**

**The response to this little story has blown me away - just over 450 reviews as I write this. Thanks everyone for reading!**

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Epilogue

I'm what?

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I woke on the Friday before our first wedding anniversary to the sight of a single red rose and a Boston crème donut on the night stand. But before I could stuff that little bit of Heaven in my mouth, my stomach rebelled and I barely made it to the bathroom in time. I'd thought the recent outbreak of stomach flu had passed me by, but apparently it hadn't.

My side trip put us behind, and I barely had time to hustle Julie out the door for the school drop off. Woody, Julie and I made it to Our Lady of Sorrows just before the bell, and since it was raining, I walked Julie to the door. Since this is me we're talking about, on the way back to the Jeep, my umbrella blew out and Joyce Barnhardt splashed me as she flew past me in her SUV.

"Jesus," I muttered. I knew she didn't have kids, but what relative of hers was crazy enough to entrust their child to her? I hadn't had time to do more than pull on some sweats and put my hair up in a sloppy pony tail, so the wet poodle look didn't detract from my overall appearance. Lucky for him, Woody didn't say a word. After all most two years of dealing with my PMS-induced rages, he knew better.

I got back to the RangeMan building at a quarter 'til nine, and was grateful for my flexible work schedule. There was no way I was starting work without a hot shower. By 9:30 AM, I was at my desk and finally enjoying my donut. Unfortunately, it made a reappearance about half an hour later. By noon, I was getting fed up with running background searches and called my best buddies, Lester and Mary Lou, to see if they were up for lunch.

But before I could make a break for it, there was a knock on my office door. "Dammit," I muttered. It was like I couldn't get a break. But my visitor turned out to be one that was always welcome.

"Well, hello handsome," I purred as my husband of (almost) one year rounded my desk and hauled me up into his arms. "I missed you," I said the instant before our lips met. I'd kissed Carlos thousands of times, but each one still felt like our first. I was moaning and seriously considering standing up Les and ML when he finally pulled away. "Wow," I breathed. "I thought I was going to have to wait until tonight for some of that."

"Speaking of tonight, there's a slight problem."

No! We'd been planning this weekend for the last month and after the morning I'd had, I needed a little happy. But I was supposed to be an adult, so I didn't stamp my foot and cry. "Oh?"

"A client out by Manalpan Township had a break-in. Nothing was taken, but I still have to check in on them." He glanced at my clock and grimaced. "I'll try, but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it back here in time for us to get Julie to my parents' and still make our reservations."

I thought quickly. "You'll already be halfway to the shore by then, so why don't I take Julie to Newark as soon as school is out and then I'll meet you at the house. Lester can drop me." Carlos had surprised us by buying a house on the beach near Avon-by-the-Sea last year. We'd used it to get away from the media attention brought on by Scrog's trial the previous Summer, and afterward, it was still convenient enough for us to make it out there at least one or two weekends a month. We usually had Julie in tow, but Marisol had been demanding her grandmotherly rights, so we'd decided to take advantage and have a grownups-only weekend away.

He grinned and pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. "Great thinking, Babe." And then he was gone, like the superhero I'd once thought him to be.

I dashed upstairs for our overnight bags and the dress I was going to wear to dinner, just in case lunch went long, and by 12:30, Lester and I were headed toward Pino's.

ML had beat us there, but as we made our way toward her, my stomach suddenly heaved. Normally, the scent of tomato sauce and grease is like ambrosia to me, but today….

Lester steadied me. "Whoa, Beautiful! You OK?"

I slid into the booth and took a long, grateful sip of the water ML had thoughtfully gotten for us. "I'll be fine, it's just this damn stomach flu that's been going around." I practiced breathing through my nose to quiet my stomach, and when I looked up next, Lester and Mary Lou were staring at me. "What?"

They shared a long look and then Lester got up. "I'll get the usual, to go."

ML sat looking at me for several more long moments. "Uh, Steph, that flu made the rounds months ago." She leaned in toward me. "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?" She whispered.

"No!" People were staring, so I lowered my voice. "I don't think so…" Then I did a little mental math. "Shit," I whispered. "I'm over a week late." My thoughts were in a whirl. _I couldn't be pregnant! We'd barely been married a year. I was so busy with Julie! I wasn't sure we had room for a nursery on the seventh floor! _

"Breathe, Steph!" ML reached out and patted my hand. "No use panicking until you actually know."

"But I'm on the pill," I hissed.

"The pill has an eight percent failure rate, Beautiful," Lester said quietly as he sat back down next to me. "I personally always insist upon wearing a condom, too."

I snorted. "I always thought that was because you're a man-whore and don't want little Lester to fall off."

Lester clutched his chest. "You wound me, Beautiful."

I rolled my eyes. "You know I love you, Les." I turned back to ML. "If I set foot in a drug store in this town, my mom will hear about it."

ML smiled and patted my hand. "I've got ya covered."

Our order was ready a couple of minutes later and then we were on our way to Mary Lou's. While Lester was setting out the food, she showed me where she kept her pregnancy tests.

"EPTs come in an economy pack?" I asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "I've gotten pregnant three times on the pill. I like to be prepared." She gave me a quick hug. "It'll be OK, I promise." With those words of encouragement, she left me alone, with a six pack of pregnancy tests.

I was more than a little scared, but I put on my big girl panties and opened one of the boxes. It took me a minute to read the instructions, but a couple of minutes after that, all I had to do was wait for the answer.

"I'm not sure I can do this," I told Les and ML when I rejoined them in the living room.

"It's only another minute or so," Lester said, helpfully.

We both glared at him. "You're such a dork." But then the alarm on my phone went off. I covered my eyes and handed the test to ML. "I'm afraid to look."

They both were silent for so long, I was starting to wonder if the test had malfunctioned or something. "Well?" I asked, cracking one eye open.

ML was beaming. "Congratulations, Mom."

Oh God. It's hard to describe the mixture of emotions that shot through me at her words. Sheer panic. Confusion. And just a tiny bit of exhilaration. _I was pregnant with Carlos' baby._ But the panic mostly won.

"But I don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies!" I cried out. Lester and ML completely lost it.

"Oh, good God!" ML wheezed as tears streamed from her eyes. "I can't believe you said that."

Les chuckled and tugged the end of my ponytail. "So, you hungry yet, Scarlett?"

The thought of even a Pino's meatball sub turned my stomach. "Uhhh." Then it occurred to me. "This baby is Ranger's. Of course it hates donuts and Pino's," I groaned. This was going to be a long nine months.

ML snickered. "Allow me." So, while Les and ML chowed down on cheesy, meaty goodness, I got to gnaw on graham crackers and sip ginger ale. Amazingly, it worked.

"So how are you going to tell _mi primo_?" Les asked around a mouthful of sub.

"Oh Lord, I have to tell him, don't I?"

"Yep, and I read where it has to be creative." Lester smirked. "And special."

_Oh God. _I checked my phone. "It's almost two. I have less than an hour until I have to pick up Julie, and then I have to somehow make it to Newark in rush hour traffic and then to the beach house." My voice was rising with every syllable. I grabbed a handful of Lester's T-shirt. "And I also have to fix myself up at some point, all so we can make our 6:30 dinner reservations. And you want me to think of a creative way to tell Ranger that he's knocked me up with his super sperm?" I shrieked. Was he _crazy?_ And what if Carlos was disappointed? _What if he didn't want our baby? What if I were a horrible mother?_

Next thing I knew, my head was between my knees and Lester was rubbing soothing circles on my back. "Breathe, Beautiful."

When I finally came up for air, Mary Lou had a cool cloth for my forehead and another can of ginger ale for me. When I'd finally calmed down, ML proved that she was the best friend a girl could ever have.

"OK, this is what we're going to do," she said briskly. "You'll get ready here, and I'll help you with your hair while Lester takes care of setting up the baby announcement for you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Since he thinks it's so important."

"We'll do what I did for my third pregnancy." She scribbled something on the back of an envelope. "Barnes and Noble should have this, but if they don't, just grab any pregnancy book you can."

Lester looked at what she'd written and grinned. "Sure thing." He leant over and kissed the top of my head. "You're already a great mother, and Ranger will be thrilled."

He brought in my bags for me and then turned to leave. He was already out the door when ML suddenly stood and rushed after him. "Pick up a gift bag or something!" She came back muttering. "Men. If you don't say something, they'll just try to wrap it up in a paper bag."

That wasn't my experience – gifts from Carlos were always beautifully wrapped in thick, expensive paper. But then, my man was exceptional in every way.

ML rejoined me on the couch and squeezed my shoulder. "He's right, you know. You're great with Julie."

I sighed. "But she can tell me if she needs something."

She snorted. "Trust me, the baby will have no problem letting you know there's a problem. You'll just have to learn to interpret a little." Her eyes grew a little misty. "Can you imagine what your and Ranger's kid would look like?"

"Yeah, he's hot, isn't he?" And he'd already proven that he could make pretty babies. Julie was going to be a heart breaker. But before I could get too dreamy-eyed over visions of little curly-haired Cuban babies, ML was hustling me into the bathroom. I took the fastest shower ever, and when I hopped out, ML was there to tackle my hair while I slapped on some makeup. I slicked on my reddest lipstick and applied an extra coat of mascara, for courage. By 2:30, I was slipping on the little red dress and heels that always made Carlos lose control and ML was putting the finishing touches on my hair. Carlos loved it down, so she'd arranged it in loose curls that framed my face. My hair actually cooperated, proving that my day was finally looking up. My stomach was feeling much better, and it turned out that the baby didn't mind a turkey on whole wheat sandwich, but ML gave me more ginger ale and crackers for the road.

Lester came back for me just as ML was leaving for her own school pickup, and by 3:15, we'd picked up Julie and were headed toward Newark. By mutual agreement, we didn't tell Julie she was going to be a big sister, yet. Carlos deserved to be at least the third to know.

Traffic was unbelievably bad, but by 5 PM, I'd kissed Julie goodbye and said hello to Marisol. Binkie and Zero were already there – they were going to spend the weekend in the Mañoso's spare room. Maybe we were being paranoid, but none of us wanted a repeat of the Scrog fiasco, and I knew that Binkie in particular loved Marisol's cooking. Over the last eighteen months, I'd come to accept that Carlos could only rest easy if he knew his loved ones were protected. His parents didn't have a full time security detail, but they had a state of the art panic room and one of Carlos' Army buddies lived down the street.

We pulled up to the beach house at a little after six, and Carlos was waiting for us on the front porch. He took one look at me in my red dress and his gaze went dark and hungry.

"Screw the reservations," he growled as he tossed me over his shoulder. From my vantage point, I had a view of his most excellent rear end, but I could also see Lester.

He was doubled over in laughter next to the Jeep. "I'll leave your bags next to the door."

Ranger didn't waste any extra time getting me inside. I was breathless and giggling by the time he laid me on our bed. "_Dios,_" he growled. "You don't know what this dress does to me."

"I can guess," I said breathlessly. "Want to help me out of it?"

I didn't have to ask twice, because in the next instant he was crawling up the bed toward me, lifting and supporting me as he hooked both of my legs over his shoulders. He ripped my panties from me with one, quick motion, and I gasped as his tongue parted my folds.

"Oh God, oh God," I chanted as his lips closed around my clit. I screamed his name when I came. My breaths were coming in gasps as he kissed his way back up my body. He lifted me up against his chest, as his clever fingers found my zipper. A few seconds later, my dress was sailing through the air. He was naked about thirty seconds later.

I screamed again when his fingers entered me roughly, driving me toward another orgasm. I could always tell he was about to lose control when he switched to Spanish, and thanks to a couple of years with him and Julie, I could understand almost every sweet, dirty thing he was whispering to me.

"_God I love you, my… sweet, sexy woman," _he panted against my neck. "_Gonna fill you up. Gonna take you until you scream."_

He entered me in one long thrust and all I could think was that I didn't know how I'd ever survived without this. "God, you feel good," I moaned.

"_So tight…. Can't get enough…. never get enough,"_ He groaned as he began to move. I was so revved up that I was coming again after his third thrust and the last thing I remembered was him filling me up just like he'd promised.

I don't know how long I'd drifted along in happy oblivion when I felt something cool wrap around my wrist. Cracking open one eye, l stared at my left arm. And I promptly sat up, almost knocking heads with Carlos. "Wow," I stuttered. "What's this?"

Carlos slid back into bed next to me. "Looks like your anniversary present to me," he said with a smirk.

It was a freaking gorgeous sapphire and diamond bracelet, that's what it was. _And it probably cost a fortune._

"No price, Babe. Ever." He murmured to me as he placed a lingering kiss on my palm.

"I love it," I murmured as I skimmed my lips over his once, twice. Our kiss grew more and more heated before I finally remembered the gifts that were tucked into my overnight bag. I tried to spring up from the bed. "Your presents!"

Carlos chuckled as he rolled out of bed. "Relax, Babe. I'll grab the bags."

I was sitting up in bed by the time he returned. "Open the small box, first," I told him as I found the two packages I'd stashed away in the side pocket of my bag.

Ranger grinned as he pulled out the shiny silver TAG Heuer watch. "How did you know I needed a new watch?"

I shrugged. "I noticed you weren't wearing your old one, and I thought this one was pretty."

His lips twitched. "Babe, this is a Link chronometer and it's water resistant to 100 feet."

I smiled. "Yeah. It's pretty, too." I handed him the gift Lester had picked up for me that afternoon. "This one's next." I watched his face carefully as he reached into the gift bag and pulled out a slim paperback book.

His brow wrinkled in confusion. "My boys can swim, the guy's official guide to pregnancy?" He looked from me to the book a couple of times before his lips lifted into a beautiful 1000-watt grin. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Something loosened inside of me, and all of the tension I'd been holding onto since the afternoon flowed out of me. "I haven't seen a doctor yet," I told him with a smile of my own. "But the pregnancy test told me that in about eight months, Julie's going to be a big sister."

He gathered me up in his arms in a hug so tight I almost couldn't breathe. But I'd never felt safer or more cherished. I could feel his joy and love wrapping around me like a warm cloak. "Babe," he breathed. "I've never been happier."

Alejandro Mateo Mañoso was born on Thanksgiving Day and he was very much loved by everyone, including his parents, grandparents, big sister and a whole building full of honorary uncles.

The End.

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AN: So this is it. Everyone's happy, and they're together. I was going to write a sweet, romantic date for them, but Carlos saw Steph in her dress and had other ideas. I used a pregnancy calculator to determine the dates. A baby born around Thanksgiving would have a probable conception date in early March, which fits in with my time frame of their anniversary being in late March. My boys can swim! is the title of an actual book.

Thanks to: deviates322, Stephannie1014, annalynn88, Anonymous, DawnsWhimsy, Angela Mueller, frostdance, Daffybduck, alix 33, Selene Aduial, bgrgrmpy, caregiver, Margaret aka whymelucylu, jkgk, shellbell78, Barb4psu, erdi99, caregiver, trhodes9, highlands girl, carrotmusic, JenRar, DebK, jules3677, and guest reviewers. Everyone's reviews have meant a lot to me.


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